Strike Down
by Within A Tragedy
Summary: After escaping from a horrible fate in Germany, young Elektra Redgaurd flees to a new country with her sister Blaze where they are forced to live in an orphanage. Soon, she befriends a young boy whom she doesn't see again for seven years. After a series of disturbing events, they are reunited. The thing is, not even Seto Kaiba can keep her safe this time. Suedo Blueshipping.
1. Elektra And Blaze

Hey Guys! I'm new and this is my first FanFiction ever. I respect and welcome critisizim but I only ask that you guys go easy on me, because like I said this is my first fanfic. The story is told in Elektra's POV who both is and isn't a reincarnation of Kisara. Also the story is placed a year after the second anime series ended and Domino City is somewhere in the United States. I'm pretty sure that it's supposed to be in Japan but I'm more familiar with America since I'm very not Japanese. So anyways, I hope you guys enjoy!

PS: Mr. Creator Of Yu Gi Oh, please do not sue me I am very poor and own no part of this franchise. Just know that you are forever awesome and please por favor don't sue. Thanks!

* * *

Strike Down

One: Elektra and Blaze

* * *

I wonder...

Sometimes, I look out my window, wherever that window may be, and see a storm brewing outside. The raw energy of lightning illuminates the sky and I can feel its presence running rapid in my blood. Fierce. Strong. Percise. Thunderstorms make me feel alive. The funny thing about windows is that you can end up seeing yourself. So when I look at a storm I end up seeing an image of myself: a girl with silver-white hair and electric blue eyes. I am Elektra Redgaurd. Be prepared to face my Hell.

* * *

"Wake up," I heard Blaze beckon from my bedside. "Elektra, wake the hell up! We're gonna be late for school dammit!"

"Shut up, shut up!" I groan, angry with her for interrupting my dream. "I'm getting up already!"

"Bitch."

"Sister-of-a-bitch," I retort. And yes I realize that I'm still calling myself a bitch.

Blaze Kristoff is my sister... morally. We knew each other even before we got sent to to that orphanage all those years ago, and even through that we were inseparable. However one could obviously see that we are not related since Blaze has black hair and red eyes. She became my "sister" since I protected her from bullies in the orphanage and protect her today from her biological father, who fights for custody of her. Her mother is mentally insane and her father is a known rapist. Luckily, nothing "happened" to her during her two years under his roof. I intend to keep it that way.

Blaze and I currently live in an apartment complex illegally since neither of us is eighteen or has an older family member. I just lie and elevate our ages by two years; me being eighteen and her being fifteen. I pay rent with my part time job as a waitress in a coffee shop and Blaze just got a new job working at the veterinary office. We must survive this difficult time together. We must stick together no matter what.

Today was Monday, the first day of our school at Domino High. We've heard about what happened here before with the Shadow Realm and all that crap. Good thing I don't believe in monsters, nor do I follow the bandwagon of that Duel Monsters game or whatever. It just never interested me, okay? We are also aware of the dress code, but pink is the most suckish color ever and we refuse to wear it. Luckily it's our first day so we have an excuse for not having a uniform yet. But oh God, pink? Really?

I got dressed in a white short dress with half-sleeves, a black vest with electric blue belts, black leggings, and black and blue boots. Blaze got dressed in her thigh length boots, red skirt, and black and red shirt and black undershirt. We're not goth, I swear.

I picked up my navy blue backpack with my porcelain rabbit chain on the zipper. I'm really into cute things, and creepy things for that matter. Our apartment building is close enough for me and Blaze to walk to school. We were late, not like it's unfamiliar to us now. That's what I get for trusting Blaze to set the alarm every morning. And the school is close, but I don't like exercise and thusly I don't like walking out of whim. I think I just stay skinny 'cause I have a high metabolism and I like to dance. When we arrived, no one was outside but us two, making my usually brave sister scoot closer to me. She'd do this back when we were up for adoption when couples would come to evaluate us. Today, she was thirteen and old enough to look after herself no matter how hard it was for me to let her go.

We walked into the front office and the middle aged aide gave us our schedules and our required uniforms I already pre-ordered. Dammit. I thought they wouldn't be in so soon. Maybe I can get through the day with what I have on. Although, it means that now me and Blaze have to go our separate ways since she's going to the eighth grade and I'm going to twelfth grade. I know I'm sixteen, but I skipped a grade. Blaze and I heartfully parted ways, and I went to my homeroom class.

I walked though the doors to already see the class in mid-session. My teacher, Mr. Tokomuro, was a young man with straight brown hair and in a sweater vest. All eyes turned to me as I paused before the class along with a few giggles from a group of girls most likely dissing me for my outfit.

"Are you one of my students?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied, "I'm kinda new here."

"Where's your uniform?"

Shit. "Umm... I'm gonna get it tomorrow. Is it cool if I could just wear this for the day?"

He smiled kindly and said, "Of course."

I like Mr. Tokomuro. He didn't immediately scold me for looking different much to my delight.

"Do you have a name?" Mr. Tokomuro asked.

"Elektra," I answered, "Elektra Redgaurd."

"Alright, Elektra then! You can go sit by..." He paused as he looked out to the room of students. "Oh. You can take a seat next to Mr. Wheeler over there."

I was about to ask who when this guy with shaggy blond hair jumped up and proclaimed in a Brooklyn accent, "Over here!"

"Mr. Wheeler, one more outburst and I'm sending you to the principle's office!"

"Sorry Teach..."

So somebody is actually happy to have me sitting by him? Awesome! I walked on over to him and sat my stuff to my side and tried to not look as nervous as I actually was.

"So, Elektra right?" he interrupted my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Sweet name! Do you have any idea how many people are named Joey?"

"Just one," I answered.

"Really? Who?"

"You," I said.

He blushed bright red and said, "Wait, you know me?"

"No. I just thought that when you asked 'how many people are named Joey' implied that you are also named Joey."

"Well, you're just some brainiac ain't ya?" Joey teased.

"I try," was my reply.

We had to be quiet because Mr. Tokomuro started his lesson again. I only paid half attention. Since it was the first day of the year, he mostly talked about himself and a project we have to do overnight and turn in tomorrow as a way to learn more about each other. I wonder what Blaze was doing right now...

Before I knew it, it was time for lunch and everyone ran out but none faster than that Joey kid. I was last to leave. I'm not too big on cafeteria food, so I took my good time getting down there. Luckily, we could go out to the schoolyard to eat so I could at least be alone for a bit. Or so I thought.

I sat up in a tree, yes a tree, with my food in my lap as I gazed down at the different friend groups socializing with each other. One social group in particular made up of three girls with black, auburn, and brown hair came up to me with faces full of askance.

"What are you?" The ginger asked.

"A homo sapien. What, are you not?" I retorted.

"You look more like a witch to me," said the overweight girl with black hair.

"Umm... Sorry?" I said. "Look, I'm not trying please you, so just screw off."

"How _dare_ you say that to us!" The brunette yelled.

"Yeah you albino freak!" The ginger screamed.

Like three little punk-ass kids were a threat to me. I just rolled my eyes and continued eating my lunch while they hounded me with insults. One thing I remembered hearing most was the word "albino". Look, I'm not an albino, I just happen to have white hair and blue eyes. Not to mention that I'm quite tan naturally. I just got done eating my apple when I heard the burnette say, "Oh man. Here comes Yugi and his friends." Then they all left.

I glanced down and saw Joey, a girl with short brown hair, a boy with spikey black, magenta-tipped hair with yellow bangs (rockin' hair dude), a boy with messy blank hair like mine, and another boy with pointy brown hair.

"S'up," I called from my perch.

They all looked up at me in astonishment.

"Dang Elektra! How'd you get up dere?" Joey called from down below.

"I climbed," I answer sarcastically.

"Well what're you doing up there, you could fall and be hurt!" The girl nagged. Though, "nagged" is kind of a harsh word. She looked like a truly kind person just worrying about the safety of others.

"I like to be alone, I guess," I said somewhat sullenly.

"Well, if you want to, you can come down and hang out with us," the awesome kid with spikey hair said. I mulled it over then decided to climb down, careful not to tip my lunch tray.

"Hey, you gonna eat de rest-a dat pizza?" Joey begged with his mouth watering.

"Joey!" the brunette scolded.

"Yeah man, just let a girl have some food wouldja?" The pointy headed guy said.

"No, no. It's okay," I said smiling, "I'm done anyways. He can have it."

It was almost like having a lion tear a steak from your hands. What has Joey never had a meal in three years or what? Oh well. I couldn't help but giggle as my whole pizza disappeared in two bites. After he was done, the brunette decided to introduce them.

"Hi! I'm Tea," she said, "And this is Yugi-" the awsome-haired guy, "Tristan-" the pointy headed guy, "-Bakura-" the white haired guy, "-and you already know Joey."

"Oh yeah, the bottomless pit," I said, making them all burst out laughing. We spent the rest of the lunch period chatting and socializing. As it would turn out, Yugi and Joey are world-class duelists with Yugi being ranked number one and Joey being ranked number three, only behind some guy they prefer to as "Kaiba". I thought Kaiba sounded like a girl's name, so when I asked who "she" was, Joey nearly died laughing. Well, the school day came and went and before I knew it the day was over. As we stood infront of the school building waiting for one of their friends whom I haven't met yet and for my sister whom they haven't met yet. Then finally, ten minutes later, a young boy with short, black, scruffy hair and violet eyes ran out towards us. I know him from somewhere. I wonder...

"Hey it's Mokuba!" Tristan said as he speeded to our circle.

Mokuba? Mokuba... Damn I swear that I know this kid.

"Hey guys!" Mokuba said as he finally stopped before he ran Bakura over. He paused and stared at me inquisitively. So I guess he remembers me too. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I'm not sure," I answered, "'Cause I feel like I know you too."

"Wait, so you possibly know Mokuba from somewhere before?" Bakura asked.

I cocked my head to the side in a desperate attempt to remember him. I knew that he had longer hair the first time I met him. "Yeah..." I said.

"Wait a minute," Mokuba said, "Are you Blaze's big sister?"

"Yeah?"

His eyes grew wide as he somehow put the pieces together. "I remember you! You're Elektra, that girl from the orphanage!"

Oh. Oh crap. "Oh, you're that kid Blaze thought was a girl then you're brother got pissed at her and I got in trouble because I put him in a headlock and threw dirt at him."

Everyone excluding me and Mokuba practically had their jaw down to the ground. "You're not still hung up on that, are ya?" I asked shyly.

He smiled and said, "No. It's okay now. Me and Blaze are actually pretty good friends now and-"

"Hold up!" Joey interrupted, "You beat up Kaiba?!"

"I wouldn't say 'beat up' exactly, and I was just looking out for Blaze."

"And Kaiba's okay with it?" Yugi questioned.

"I said _I_ am okay with it now," Mokuba said, "Seto and I haven't brought up the subject in years but you know how he is."

By about that time, Blaze came running straight into me. Not at me, into me. Good thing I'm used to it and didn't fall over this time.

"Hey Sis!" Blaze proclaimed. "I'm hungry, can we go get some ladragge?"

What the hell is _ladragge_? "Blaze, I have no idea what that is."

"Good 'cause I made it up."

"What so she's your sister?" Tea asked.

"Yep," we unanimously answered.

"But you look nothing alike."

I look over to Blaze, whose eyes are begging me to tell the story. I nodded and granted her ability to explain our story. "Well," she says, "me and Elektra are kinda like step-sisters, but we were close even before we ra... rapidly got adopted!" Nice save.

At about that time, a sleek, sweet-ass limousine pulled up next to us. Everyone turned their attention to the window rolling down ever so slowly to the vaguely familiar blue-eyed, brown haired, sharp faced guy known as Kaiba, though in the orphanage I remember calling him Seto. He looked out of the corner of his eye at us.

"Come on Mokuba," he said to his little brother. When Mokuba was halfway around to the other side of the limo, I saw Kaiba's eyes meet mine. I swear that I know that I saw a flicker in his stare. He remembered me. Great. Now he's probably gonna sue me or something. He then rolled his window up and the limo drove off.

"Damn that guy was sexy!" Blaze exclaimed.

* * *

THE END... of this chapter. I hope you guys liked it but just in case if you're confused, I'll straighten out a few things. First of all, Blaze is my OC. Though she is based off of a particular monster (and if you don't know which one then look in the mirror and shake your head because that's what I would be doing). Secondly, if laddrage is real then I owe a lot of money to my friend. Thirdly, like I said before, Elektra is not Kisara exactly though she is heavily based off of her. Lastly, I know that there's a lot of cussing (it has its rating for a reason guys!) though I will refrain from using the f'word for as long as possible. So I'll update monthly mostly because I waste all of my internet data watching videos on YouTube. So if there's no update in a few weeks don't panick I'll get to it, though if there's no update in a year then I am probably dead. R.I.P. me. And I'll only update IF my story is at least moderately successful. So, that's it. Give a 100% in everything you do... unless you're giving blood. Later!

Wanna see what Blaze looks like? Link on profile


	2. Don't Take My Money

I know, I posted this really soon but I'm gonna be uploading many chapters at once. Same rules as the previous: Please don't sue, be respectful, and don't hate me for my mistakes. I'm only human... as far as you know. Ha ha. Just kidding. Enjoy!

* * *

Strike Down

Two: Don't Take my Money

* * *

He promised...

I nearly plopped down in my bed in exhaustion. It was 9:30 already and I haven't even been able to see my bed yet. I was pooped. I have just spent the last five hours working at a coffee shop. You'd be surprised at how many people want coffee at 7:00- 8:00 at night. Luckily for Blaze, she only has to work weekends. God I haven't even eaten yet.

"You okay Ella?" Blaze called from the couch using my nickname. I could hear her playing the multiplayer for Call of Duty on our not-so- wide screen television.

"Nope," I answer from my room. My room is the only bedroom so Blaze sleeps on the couch, unless she has nightmares in which case she crawls into bed with me dead asleep. "Who the hell are you playing with anyways?"

"Joey and Tristan so far," she shouted over gunfire, "They gave me their Gamertags before they left. Mokuba said he would try to join us if his brother would let him stay up late enough."

"Speaking of which, why are you still up?"

"Be_cause_, I was waiting for you to come home and I'm hungry."

I sighed loudly. "Dammit Blaze you know how to cook your own food!"

"I know. I was waiting for you 'cause I ordered some chinese food about ten minutes ago. I'll go get it once I kill this Homocidal_Cricket0690 guy."

"Don't," I moaned, "It's too late. I'll go get it."

"Really? You're sure?"

I picked up mu black purse and navy blue jacket in the kitchen then said, "Yeah just stay here and keep your phone on."

"'Kay."

I locked the door behind me and made my way down the hall to the elevator. Thankfully, most of everyone was asleep by now so I didn't get stuck with some creepy guy or annoying little six-year-olds in the elevator. I stood there silently as the numbers ticked by indicating what floor I'm currently on.

"God, this outfit looks tacky," I groaned. I said that because I was still wearing my pale green work shirt and dark green work pants. I zipped up my jacket as a way to look a little better. Like anyone's gonna notice me at this hour.

The floor number finally reached 1 and I made my way out. Domino City was lit up like Christmas lights, which some might find pretty but they just make me feel queasy and make me feel like I'm about to have a seizure. I walked into the store and out, nothing out of the ordinary, but then I saw this guy glaring at me from under his hood. This guy was about six feet tall and looked like he was waiting for an apocalypse so he can get away with chopping off someone's head of with an axe. I tried to keep it outta my head, but then, as soon as I was out of the public eye that butthole swept my purse straight from my hands.

"Hey you dick!" I yelled as I gave chase. No I never yelled "stop" or "give that back". If he truly wanted to give my purse back then he wouldn't have taken it. He's gonna wish that he'd given back. Oh, I'm gonna make him remember this day until he's dying alone in a frozen street alley.

I chased him down the street and this freakin' douche let him run by. He let him run by! What kinda "man" let's another guy ran straight passed him with a woman's purse? One: men in tattered hoodies and baggy pants that are running at night are doing something bad. Two: men that carry purses don't run with the purse in their hands. You just don't let them run by you. "Thanks asshole!" I yell at him as I push past him and steadily get closer to the thug.

Then I saw my chance. I reached out my hand and grabbed the back of his hoodie. Now you're probably thinking that he stopped and attacked me. But I didn't let him stop. I threw him back and grabbed for the gun he had pulled out after I clenched his hoodie. I held onto it with my palm on the right side of the barrel, facing me, and had my index finger behind the trigger so he couldn't pull it and shoot me straight in the face.

"Let go you little shit!" he ordered through his teeth.

We wrestled the gun for a few seconds more, which to me felt more prolonged, until I won the leverage battle and twisted the gun out of his hand and breaking two of his fingers in the process. I held the gun to his face with the safety off as he was stiff with fear.

"Here's how this is gonna play out," I said coldly, "You're gonna give my purse back to me, then you're gonna get up and run away and forget that you ever crossed my path, and I won't blow your brains out outta your skull."

The thug threw my purse at me then hastily ran away like the pathetic coward he is. Then I looked down at the weapon in my hand now. Can I keep this?

"Woah..." I heard a familiar voice beckon from behind me. I turned around to see Mokuba and Kaiba (the jerk who didn't help stop the thug) standing behind me.

"Oh hey Mokuba!" I called from my standpoint. I don't dwell on recent events that have been solved. He ran up to me with his brother following behind him but at his own pace.

"Are you okay? I mean, he coulda killed you!" Mokuba said.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Eh, I can handle myself, I guess."

"Woah, you're like the awesomeness person ever!" He smiled.

"Elektra," Kaiba said staring me with eyes full of ice, "I see that you're doing well."

Psh. What does he know about me? "Who says that I am?"

"So you're not?" Kaiba asked.

"Why do you care?"

"You're right. I don't."

"So why'd you acknowledge it?"

"Vague curiosity."

"Why are you curious about my life?"

"I'm just making sure that I'm more successful than you."

Oh no he did not just say that. "Dude! I'm still in high school! I'm sixteen for Christ's sake!"

He grinned cruely then said, "So? I took over KaibaCorp when I was a little less than your age."

I scoffed. "That was luck. You got lucky that Gozoburo came to the orphanage at all, and you're very lucky that his son died so you'd inherit the company if something was to happen."

Both of their faces grew in worry. Though Kaiba tried to hide his astonishment from me. "How do you know about Noah?" he asked.

"I didn't," I answered, "I just knew that he had a son that wasn't one of you two."

He hid his eyes under his hair then said, "Well that's all you need to know. Here." He tossed my bag of food to me with little care. "You dropped that when you ran into me."

Was this a kind gesture? Probably not. "Uh, thanks Seto," I said anyways.

Kaiba cut his eyes at me. "Why did you call me that?"

I laughed. "That's your name ain't it?"

He turned away from me. Mokuba felt compelled to explain to me what was going on. "I'm the only person who still calls him that now."

I get it. So Mr. Kai-butt only likes for people to call him by his first name if he likes you. "Sorry, but I like the name Seto more than Kaiba." I said cheerfully. "I mean, I wouldn't like it if people called me Redgaurd rather than Elektra."

"Elektra does sound better than Redgaurd," Mokuba admitted.

"Well, you and I are two very different people," Kaiba said.

"Maybe we're not," I said rather like I was just now seeing my point than explaining it, "I mean, you have Mokuba and I have Blaze, we're both orphans, and we both have blue eyes."

"And we both have the same need to terrorize people we don't like," he added.

I smiled, even though I'm sure that he meant for it to be an insult more than a realization. "Well, just don't take my money and it won't happen. He-he!"

Mokuba laughed. "Oh and tell Blaze that I'm sorry for not being able to play with her. The meeting ran longer than expected."

Kaiba _hmph_ed then continued his walk to wherever he was going. I waved goodbye to Mokuba and started to walk home. If Kaiba's so rich, then why the hell is he walking on a sidewalk instead of a limo? Weird. When they were long gone, I looked at the gun I had put in my purse before I started the conversation. It was a charcoal black 9-millimeter pistol with five bullets left. I really don't have a need for a gun since I'm not a drug dealer or a hooker or a part of the mafia. But then again, stuff like tonight might happen at another time. Why not waste this opportunity? I'm keeping this. For emergencies only, of course.

Blaze was still up but just barely. The television was turned off meaning that she was done playing on our XBox. It was almost 11:00 now.

"Shit, what time is it?" Blaze asked as she lazily laid her eyes on me as I walked to the kitchen table and sat down beside her.

"Way past your bedtime," I said sitting the food in front of us with it somehow still intact.

Blaze let out a prolonged, sleepy yawn then asked, "Hey, what took you so long?"

"Some butthole tried to steal my purse so I took it back," I answered.

She smiled. "Is he still alive?"

"He should be unless he died of a heart attack after he ran away from me with his tail twixt his legs." We both laughed the best we could with being as worn down as we were. "And then I stole his gun and-"

"What?" Blaze questioned lazily concerned.

"He's not gonna do anything about it. Besides, I'm gonna lock it in the safe by my bed so it's not like it's gonna be out in plain sight. It's for emergencies only-"

"Emergencies only, I know the drill," Blaze said before I was even done talking. I said nothing as I gave her some food. We were halfway through our meal and neither of us have tried to start a conversation yet. God, I was so tired.

"I saw Kaiba and Mokuba," I stated. "They were there but Kaiba let the thug run straight passed him."

She looked at me funny. Not good funny. "Really? I thought he was good-ish. Like, not completely bad but not the best person but-"

"Well, he was nice kinda-sorta. He picked up our food after I dropped it when I bumped into him."

"Psh! Oh _sure_ let the mugger run by but save the food! That's real nice!"

I shrugged. "It's sad at how much he's changed."

"Changed?"

I chuckled lightly. "You don't remember this, but Seto was actually a really sweet kid at the orphanage."

* * *

I was about nine or ten at the time of the orphanage that day. I didn't have very many friends back then other than Blaze. My hair was much shorter then, about to my shoulders, and I had a strange obsession with spiders. So this one day I was staring at this black widow I named Hema, for blood, kill a fly and suck its liquified guts out. Then this mean girl, Jackalinne, came up behind me and started boasting about how normal she was. I didn't really listen for I really didn't care.

"Jacklinne, I am trying to study the honorable balance of nature in the form of life and death," I said, "Please leave me be."

She laughed loudly then said, "Your only friend is a stupid spider?! How pathetic are you?! Ha ha ha! Let's see how good your friend is when it meets the sole of my shoe!"

"No!" I screamed. But it was too late. Jacklinne slammed her right foot straight into the spider web with great force. All that remained of Hema was the green goo of her intestines. My friend. My pet. She may had just been a spider, but she was important to me and I loved her. Jacklinne doesn't see the true beauty of non-pretty things. But I did.

"Now there's just a pool of goo! What nice _friends_!" She yelled as she walked away.

I cupped my face in my hands and started to cry quietly. Jacklinne just took the life of something that has done nothing to hurt her. She just took the life of my friend. I was caught up in my tears when I heard someone walking up to me.

"Hey, you okay?" I heard the voice of a little boy say.

I shook my head in reply.

He knelt down beside me then said, "C'mon, don't cry. It was just a spider."

"Y- you don't understand," I sobbed, "S-she was my friend..."

"Oh," he said.

I wiped my eyes then replied, "You probably think that I'm a freak too."

"No? Why would I think that?"

"Because I have white hair and because I'm friends with spiders and because I'm not like other girls."

He held my chin up so I could look at his face. He had soft brown hair and innocent, shining blue eyes. "I don't think that you're a freak. You're just different. Your hair is awesome, it's annoying when girls whine about seeing a spider in the corner, and other girls are boring."

I smiled half-heartedly and said, "But my friend's gone and now all I have left is my sister."

"I know how you feel," he said comfortingly, "After Mom and Dad died, my brother and I are all we have left. But... Hey! I know, why don't you and I be friends?"

"Really?" I whimpered.

"Sure! You and I can be best friends forever!"

I smiled and blushed bright red. "Cool! My name's Elektra, by the way."

He smiled too. "Well my name's Seto. It's great to meet you!"

"We'll always be friends, right?" I asked.

"Always!" Seto said. "I promise."

* * *

"So you even knew Kaiba before you beat him up that day?" Blaze asked.

I nodded. I've always kept that memory somewhere close by. Ever since Seto and I got into that fight a few months after that day, we've never talked to each other since. Well, not until today. I've felt really bad about the whole thing since. Seto was supposed to be my friend forever. He promised...

Blaze stared at her empty glass of water. "Man, if I had never made fun of Mokuba then you two would still be friends now. It's all my fault."

"No!" I scolded. "It was my fault too. I really crossed the line when I put him in a headlock, threw dirt in his face, and I especially when I called him all those mean things." God I had problems.

With that I looked up at the clock and saw that it was almost midnight. I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen then put Blaze to sleep. She went out like a light. Before I got into bed, I unlocked the safe by my bed and set the new gun inside and placed the ammo clip beside it. I didn't dare look at the picture laying in the corner. Afterwards, I rolled into bed and shut my eyes in silent discontent. What have I done?

Best friends forever, right?

* * *

And that's that. That part with the spider was a tad on the grotesque side but it wasn't too bad, right? Well, later on it's gonna get hecka gross and I am very detailed with my work. Just a warning. But that won't be but for awhile now. Next chapter is about you-know-who (Kisara) and I'm gonna try to elaborate on her's and Elektra's connection. Later!


	3. Kisara

Okay this really doesn't help that much on explaining the realationship between Kisara and Elektra but it shall be clear as the story progresses. That's all I have to say for now.

* * *

Strike Down

Three: Kisara

* * *

Who?

I completely forgot about that project over the events of last night. Shit. I was in class watching nervously as everyone went up and presented their talents and other personal info. This went alphebetically, and with my last name being Redgaurd gave me time to contemplate my approach.

"You okay Elektra?" Joey asked seeing my left leg bounce up in down in anticipation.

I gave him a quick glance and said, "Yeah. I just don't like an audience."

He laughed then replied, "Don't worry about it. We're all ya friends."

_Most of you_, I thought glancing over to the ginger and the burnette from yesterday. The black-haired girl and Bakura don't have this class with me, but Yugi, Tea, and Tristan do. By about that time, Mr. Tokomuro called Tea up.

"I feel really silly telling you all about myself," Tea spoke. "I mean, I've known most of you since eigth grade. Well, anyways, my name is Tea Gardner. I am seventeen and I was born and raised here in Domino City." She picked up her manditory prop for her presentation, a pair of ballerina shoes, then continued. "I really wanna be a dancer after I graduate. And, well, I guess that's it!"

Everyone applauded out of politeness and four more got called up before Mr. Tokomuro called on Yugi.

"Hi, um, my name's Yugi Moto," he said, "And I am sixteen and I live here in Domino City with my Grandpa and-" He pulls out this deck of cards. "-I am a world champion duelist."

And that was it. Of course, everyone already knew about him. He's like a celeberty now. Then again, everyone in this school pretty much knows each other already. Well, everyone exept for me. This entire project was probably designed for me. A few people later and now it's my turn. I grabbed my prop and made my way up to the podium. God, do they really have to stare at me the whole time? I know I'm sexy but this is just too much.

"Hey," I say shyly, "My name is Elektra Redgaurd. I hardly know any of you but I've only been here for less than a year. Me and my sister Blaze were orphans for a long time but before then we lived in Germany with our families."

"Families?" Mr. Tokomuro asked. "I thought you said that you and Blaze were sisters."

I laughed the most realistically I could then answered, "Well, we became sisters when we were adopted. But while we were in Germany she was like the sister I didn't have."

"Well, one thing lead to another and we wound up in the orphanage here and then a few years later we got adopted by this family. But then the mother died and our father is working over in Russia, so I have to take care of Blaze and myself."

Almost everybody "_aww-_ed" at me. All except the burnette from yesterday. "Hold up," she said. "If you're from Germany, then how'd you get to Domino City?"

"That is absolutely none of your business," I replied codly with my icey glare aimed at her. Mr. Tokomuro sided with me, along with the majority of the class. "Back on the original subject," I continued, "I am really busy and all, but I somehow managed to adapt all these hobbies in my life. Well, I like do dance a lot, but I assure you that I am not a perfessional. In fact I kinda look like a monkey having a seizure." Everyone started laughing loudly, even the teacher. "I like to make people smile, I can play piano, violin, guitar, and I like to sing, but remember that monkey having a seizure? Well, when I sing I sound like another monkey choking because he was laughing at the monkey having the seizure." Everyone laughed out loud again. "The one thing that I really like to do over anything is to draw." I held up my sketchbook. It was a modest book with just seventy pages with a black-ish grey cover and was very worn out.

"Could you, maybe, show us some pictures?" Mr. Tokomuro asked.

I thought it over for a spell. I gazed out to the class seeing faces full of kind, begging eyes. "Uh... no," I answered shyly. "I'm too nervous."

"That's understandable," the teacher said. My speech was over. No one really applauded because they were disappointed of my refusal to show them my artwork. Oh well. I'm just a private person at heart.

After me was Tristan who talked about sharpshooting and Joey's presentation was about dueling, too. Though, he was a little less "humble" about it than Yugi was. By the time everyone was done, it was lunchtime again. Instead of eating in a tree today, I sat with Tea and the others. And again, I pretty much let Joey devour my food. How the hell can he eat that garbage?

"So Elektra," Tristan said, "Why do you always let Joey eat your food?"

"I just don't like it," I shrugged. "I eat when I get home anyways."

"Well, I see that you're wearing your new uniform today," Tea acknowledged cheerfully.

I looked down at my pink jacket, blue tie, and blue skirt. Hideous. "Yeah, but can I ask you a question?"

"Sure! What?"

"Does the skirt have to be so short?"

Tea giggled but all the guys flushed red in their faces. "I'm afraid so. But you can wear panty-hose under it if you wanna. That's what I do when it gets cold."

"At my old shool, we didn't have uniforms," I said remonessing. "Guys came to school in baggy, white tank tops with their pants at their knees and girls came to school in crop tops, boxers, and a bump in their belly."

Everyone turned to me wide-eyed and silent. Oh dammit. I have a knack for saying really awkward things sometimes. Back at my old school, people woulda found this funny. Now I just feel embarrassed. "I'm sorry," I apalogized. "I didn't mean to weird you guys out. My old school was so corrupt that I guess I got corrupted, too."

"No need to apalogize," Bakura said comfortingly, "We're just surprised at the state of your old school."

I shrugged again. "Sadly, everything I said was true. There was a fight once a week at the least, a teacher got arrested, twelve teachers quit, there is a bomb threat at least once a year, you couldn't wear hats because the principles were afraid that someone would hide a weapon in there, kids had- you know what, I should stop there."

Everyone was so shocked that even Joey's mouth was so wide open that food was falling out. Yep. Best school ever. Not.

"Are you serious?" Tea asked.

I nodded.

"Wow, that's horrible," Yugi said sympethetically.

I smiled and replied, "It's okay! Don't worry about it. It's all behind me now!"

"Right!" Everyone exclaimed in unison.

"So Elektra," Tea said holding her fork in her hand, "Why don't you want anyone to see your drawings?"

I gripped my sketch pad to my waist not eagar for others to see. I'm bipolarly shy, if that is a real term. Like, I'm truly brave and spontanious but when it comes to my talents and anything personal I clam up.

"C'mon Elektra," Joey encouraged, "We ain't gonna make fun-a ya."

"Yeah. And if it means anything, I can't draw if my life depended on it," Tristan said.

I sighed loudly then said, "Alright." Then I pushed the sketchbook over to Tea who was sitting across from me. I bowed my head as everyone immediantly hurried over behind Tea to get a look at my drawings. Geez it's drawings not the meaning of life. Tea started flipping through the pages slowly as everyone commented on the different pictures, though they're voices were too low for me to hear. My face turned pink. I hate when people compliment me because I'm not better than any other artist. I'm just me. Then they came across this one, and yes I knew which one it was because I counted the pages they flipped, then a silence befell them.

"Woah, that looks like Kaiba!" Joey said. "But, like, a younga version-a him."

"It is him," I clarified. I reached out and gently took my book back and sat it flat on the table in my perspective. It was a picture of me in my favorite blue dress with young Kaiba sitting beside me helping me read an English-speaking book. "This was back when we were friends. He used to be so sweet, then he turned into such an asshole."

Everyone was still quiet and I could feel all of their eyes on me. "He was my best friend," I continued. "Then everything went to shit. And it's all my fault."

"Hey, Elektra," Yugi said sounding unsure of himself, "this may seem outta the blue, but... does the name Kisara mean anything to you?"

Who? Kisara? "N-no?" I answered. "Why? Who's that?"

Yugi shook his head. "It's nothing. But, um, I really like your drawings! They look so real!"

I smiled, blushing again.

"Yeah," Joey commented, "It's a lot bettah than anything I could do, 'cause I can't draw worth a damn!"

We all laughed kindly. Lunch ended soon after and school dragged on as usual. Except, I couldn't get what Yugi said out of my head. Kisara... I honestly feel no connection to that name at all, so why would he ask that? Maybe she's someone he knows and we look alike so he thought we were related or something. Then again, how did the picture of me and Seto, I mean Kaiba make him think of that. Wait... was Kisara like his girlfriend or something? I'll ask Mokuba about it later or something.

So time passed on and school finally let out and we met with Blaze and Mokuba outside of school. Now's my chance.

"Hey, Mokuba?" I asked the thirteen-year-old standing beside me.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Is Kaiba dating anyone?"

"No I am not," said a deep, familiar voice from my far left.

Everyone jumped from both my question and Kaiba's sudden appearence. Oh crap. Awkwardness to the infinity. I dare not turn in his direction, where everyone else had jumped away from like he was a snake in the grass.

"Uhh... Hey?" I say, my face lit up like a campfire.

"Hey," he answered.

"What's with you and walking?" I asked nervously. "Can't pay the gas bill?"

"Seemed like a nice day," he answered smiling, but smiling in a cinical way. "No clouds, nice breeze; I figured that I could just walk in a girl asking my little brother about my matial status."

"He... he-he...," I tried to laugh it off. "I'm not interested if that's what you think. I was just wondering who Kisara was."

Kaiba's eyes flickered in a form of remebrance. Then he turned and cut his eyes at Yugi, though it was everyone else who felt threatened by his gesture. "Kisara," he said, "is nothing but a figmant of those dorks' imagination. You'd be smart to ignore them."

Figmant of their imagination? How can that be?

"Hold up Kaiba!" Joey declared holding his fist up to him. "Kisara _was_ real! If it wasn't for hah then that pretty little Blue Eyes o' yours woulda nevah existed!"

"Stand the hell back you insignifigant little shit," Kaiba retorted violently. "I got my Blue Eyes with hard work and more importantly by my own means! Your little fairytales are just as much fiction as those phony religions people believe in these days."

So he's athiest now too? My heart sank for him. He gave up on all happiness in the world. It was then that I realized that there was no chance that I could get my old friend back. Kaiba took the place of Seto. His story isn't going to have a happily-ever-after, is it?

"Please don't take offense," I said softly out of pity for him. "I don't mean to pry on your personal affairs, but my curiosity is sometimes stronger than my will."

Kaiba turned away from me. "Hmph. Well, no I'm not dating anyone if you're that curious."

"Psh, who _would_ date ya?" Joey grumbled.

"I'm sorry but I didn't realize that you're an expert on romance Wheeler," he taunted. "What was it that Mai said when she friendzoned you?"

"SHUT THE F-" Tristan and Yugi held him back and covered his mouth before more regret was made.

"Kaiba," I said sternly, "that was cruel!"

"Why do you care? You probably don't even know who she is!"

I stared at him with my eyes full of fury. "Does _that_ matter?! If there's one thing you don't do in life, it's you don't step on a broken heart you sociopathic jerk!"

He said nothing as he walked on with Mokuba not to far behind him. Does he even have a heart anymore? I turned over to Joey, who held his gaze downward in dark silence.

"I'm sorry," I apalogized to him. "I, I didn't mean to bring up Kisara and have Kaiba say all that stuff."

"Elektra, it's not your fault," Tea said gently.

"Yeah, Kaiba crossed the line not you," Blaze comforted.

I made my hands into fists then said, "But there's one thing I did that can't be changed and can't be 'not my fault'. I abandoned Seto! When we were kids, I never apalogized for beating him up, I never tried to help him, and I'm the one responsible for what he's become today!" I hung my head down with tears running down my face. "I was the person he needed when he was at his worst. He helped me, and I repaid him by neglecting him!"

Before I could start all-out bawling, Joey raised his voice and yelled, "Elektra! None-a dis is your fault! Kaiba is da stubborn jackass he is today because-a his step-fatha! And he's stupid for not seeing what a kind and loving person you are today!"

Right. Gozoburo. I'm aware of what happened between them. Don't ask how. "True, but no matter what you say, a part of this is my fault."

"No," Blaze protested, "It's my fault that I called Mokuba a girl in the first place. Stop blaming yourself for everything that happens to Kaiba!"

I took in a deep breath then said, "Alright." Though, I must admitt, I'll never hold anyone accountable for his outcome but myself. He was my best friend. He was my responsibility. And I let him down.

"Hey I know!" Yugi implored. "Why don't you and Blaze come over to my Grandpa's game shop with us?"

* * *

Just in case you were wondering why Joey's dialogue is so weird, it's because I'm writing it to sound like his accent. Also, JoeyxMai fans PLEASE don't hate me for not pairing them together. I have nothing against Mai but I was weirded-out at their eight year age difference, not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just my opinion. Also, I figured that Kaiba would be an atheist since he doesn't believe in a lot of things, and again any athiests PLEASE don't offense if any. I love people of all religions or lack of. Unless you're a Belieber. That's all for now. Later!


	4. The Dragon

So in this chapter there's going to be a POV switch, though whenever the perspectives change from Elektra, it will always be 3rd person omiscent excluding Elektra. Meaning that you will know the thoughts of every character except for Elektra. Anyways like always in everyway please enjoy.

* * *

Strike Down

Four: The Dragon

* * *

Hell to the yes!

Nothing remarkably eventful happened on the way to Yugi's Grandpa's game store, which is where he lived, too. Well, I did see a full-grown man in a My Little Pony store that was wearing a crop top. But that's normal for the modern world, right? America's weird.

The shop, Kame Game, was modest and cute. I kept these thoughts to myself out of respect. We walked in and saw a wide array of Duel Monsters items. And then there was Yugi's Grandpa. He was really, really old but had Yugi's amethyst eyes and hairstyle. How the hell is that hairstyle hereditary? What if Yugi had been born a girl and had that hair? Brain explosion. P-kerrrrrrrrr.

"Oh hello Yugi!" his Grandpa greeted, "Oh, and you've brought your friends, too!"

"Well, Bakura had to stay at school to help tutor some of the younger kids." Yugi said.

Right. He had to stay behind. It's hard to know when he's gone since he's so quiet.

"And who are these two young ladies?" his Grandpa asked.

"I'm Elektra Redgaurd," I said presenting myself.

"And I'm Blaze Kristoff," Blaze said.

"What strange names. Where are you two from?" he asked.

"Well, we were both born in Germany but I'm half Swedish. Blaze is all German." I answered.

"Oh are you Joey and Tristan's special lady friends?" Mr. Moto asked.

All four of our mouths dropped to the floor. Of course he didn't suspect Yugi 'cause he and Tea are dating. Jeez, just assume that two boys and two girls standing next to each other means that we're dating.

"Grandpa!" Yugi scolded.

"Sorry, I was only joking."

After I regained my composure and took a few extra steps away from Joey, I felt like easing the awkwardness. "This is a cool looking game shop Mr. Moto."

"Oh! Ho ho ho ho! Why thank you Elektra dear!" Mr. Moto said bashfully. "Are you a duelist like Yugi and Joey?"

I shook my head. "Nah. I preffer video games. Besides, I don't even have any cards."

"Well would you like some?" Mr. Moto asked.

"I really don't have the money..."

"They're on the house! Free of charge! Oh, and some for Blaze, too," Mr. Moto said cheerfully.

Aw. That's sweet of him to do. "Thank you."

Mr. Moto walked over to a shelf behind us and got two packs of cards and gave them to us. Blaze basically ripped her's apart in anticipatin. She really liked Duel Monsters and knew a hell of a lot more about than me. Just about that time, I glanced over to the T.V. and saw some guy with long, white hair that covered one of his eyes that was wearing a red suit. "Hey who's that guy?"

Everyone looked up in shock. "It's Pegasus!" Yugi exclaimed.

Pegasus? OMFG that name is the best worst name ever. I started snickering. "That guy's name is seriously Pegasus?"

"Well, techinically it's his last name," Tea said.

"Then what's his first name?" Blaze asked. "Unicorn Princess?"

Joey and Tristan were the only ones who laughed. That Pegasus guy looked like he was having a press conference. I have said that I don't know much about Duel Monsters, but I do know that this guy created the game. Score: 1 for the girl from Germany!

"It's been awhile since I've started the widely popular Duel Monsters game, and it's been all too long since I have released any new cards," Pegasus stated, "So I have decided to re-release one special card with an unimaginable history. Currently of the four cards made, only three are left and are all owned by one particular young man. And so now I have decided to release a single Blue Eyes White Dragon card this morning. Remember, it's finders keepers losers weepers!"

Several press members starting hounding questions at him while everyone around me was deathly silent.

"Woah, a whole notha Blue Eyes," Joey said spaciously, "I'd give my left foot to see Kaiba's face right now."

"Why Kaiba?" Blaze asked.

"Hmph! That spoiled brat came in here one day and ripped apart _my_ Blue Eyes! I hope whoever has that card is far far away from that sociopath!" Mr. Moto growled.

Why would Kaiba do that over some stupid card? Is he that cruel? Oh, man...

"Hey Yugi!" Blaze called. "Are any of these cards good?"

Yugi smiled kindly and walked over to evaluate the nine cards she had in her hand. "Let's see," he said, "You have a Panther Warrior and Scape Goat... And a Skull Dice."

"Hey!" Joey yelled. "Doze are my cards!"

Blaze stuck out her tongue as Yugi went on. "Uh, Monster Reborn. That's gonna be good to have. And- Wow! You have a Red Eyes!"

"Jeez Yugi everyone one knows that I have red eyes," Blaze said.

"No I mean that you have a Red Eyes Black Dragon! That's so cool!"

Everyone came over and looked at the card, including me. Sure enough, there it was. A rare Red Eyes Black Dragon. "Hey it looks just like you!" I joked, reffering to her black hair and red eyes.

"Yup! This is, by far, my favorite card of all time!" She said proudly.

"Hey Elektra," Yugi said to me, "You haven't opened your cards yet.

"Oh, right," I replied. I forgot with all this talk about dragons and pegasusi and all that. I ripped the top off and looked through my pitiful excuse for a deck. I called out the cards that I recognized. "Swords of Revealing Light, Monster Reborn, Graceful Dice, Palmerization, Fire Sorcerror, and a-" Woah. Hold up. The card I had in my hand was a shining white dragon, both frightening yet beautiful, with electric blue eyes. Hell to the yes! "-A Blue Eyes White Dragon."

* * *

(_The following is 3rd person narrative. Just switching perspectives._)

"Dude, you have problems," Mokuba said to his brother.

"Took you this long to figure that out?" Kaiba stated.

Mokuba sat back up from sitting upsidedown on one of the chairs in Kaiba's office. The T.V. was on, not like any one was paying any attention; especially Seto Kaiba who was too busy on his computer.

"Are you still mad?" Mokuba asked.

"I don't care that you beat my high score on Flappy Bird."

"No not that," he elaborated. "Are you still ticked about what Elektra did like, six years ago?"

Kaiba stopped what he was doing and rested his head in his hands in dull fatigue and sighed. There was a prolonged silence, making Mokuba feel wary.

"Did... did I say something wrong?"

Kaiba sighed again. "No. It's not you." Then he did something startling. "Can I ask you something?"

Mokuba nearly fainted from the eight second pause in his major organs. His brother was asking _him_ something for once? There was something that his brother did not know? "Uhh... Sure?"

"Do you remember what happened to Elektra and Blaze after we got adopted?"

"What? You don't?"

Kaiba shook his head. "I was... you know. But I remember you telling me something about them. Something... strange."

Mokuba started thinking strainfully. It's been so long and he was really young and had more important things to deal with. Then he started back-tracking from the day Blaze called him a girl. He got adopted, their step-father was a abusive maniac, then he drew that picture... Mokuba started to chuckle. "Y'know? Elektra kinda looks like your Blue Eyes."

"I'm aware," Kaiba said, thinking about that strange girl from the past Yugi told him about.

Mokuba started thinking again, until finally he remembered. "Oh yeah! Blaze's dad came to get custody of her, but before he could they... ran away." His own words numbed him.

"Ran away?" Kaiba said without showing an ounce of concern. "How long did it take for them to get caught?"

"No one ever caught them," Mokuba said. "Everyone gave up on finding them after a few months. But..."

"But what?"

"Elektra said that they were adopted by some guy working in Russia. So, was she lying? I mean, wouldn't he have told people that he found them?"

"Maybe Elektra's just some cronic liar," Kaiba said codly. "I mean, how could she be from Germany? I was told that some cops found her and Blaze wandering the city and brought them to the orphanage. And how would they come here from Germany in the first place?"

Mokuba shrugged his shoulders. "Well, Blaze and Elektra had strong accents while we were growing up. They hardly knew any English, remember?"

True. Kaiba had to teach Elektra how to read in English back when they were friends. Why wasn't he friends with her anymore? Sure she hurt his pride and her "sister" beat up his brother, but Mokuba has forgiven her and Elektra was only protecting Blaze. Didn't he do the same thing when Mokuba was targeted by bullies?

"And besides," he added, "Blaze was the only one who could translate a song Marzie had on her phone that was completely in German."

"Marzie?"

"She's a girl in mine and Blaze's class," Mokuba said. "Her real name is Marzette Posa but everyone just calls her Marzie."

By about that time, a familiar face appeared on the T.V. : Pegasus.

"What is that asshole doing now?" Kaiba muttered in a failed attempt to keep his brother from hearing.

"I heard that!" Mokuba called out, remembering their bet. You see, Kaiba and Mokuba have this bet going on that Kaiba can't go twenty-four hours without cursing. Kaiba thought of this as a way to set a better example for his little brother after he dropped the f-bomb for the first time about a month ago.

Kaiba groaned as he tried to listen to what Pegasus had to say. "It's been awhile since I've started the widely popular Duel Monsters game, and it's been all too long since I have released any new cards," Pegasus stated, "So I have decided to re-release one special card with an unimaginable history. Currently of the four cards made, only three are left and are all owned by one particular young man. And so now I have decided to release a single Blue Eyes White Dragon card this morning. Remember, it's finders keepers losers weepers!"

A mixed feeling of anxiety and bewilderment befell Kaiba. Another Blue Eyes White Dragon? That pit in Kaiba's chest (which I guess is where his heart's supposed to be) told him that he needed to posses that card, like with the others. He doesn't know why he gets like this over that card, but it surely has nothing to do with what Yugi told him. Even if some girl fell in love with his past life doesn't explain his obsession with it today.

"Woah! Another Blue Eyes!" Mokuba beamed. "Where do you think it is bro?"

"I have some idea."

(_Back to Elektra_)

"Aw man!" Blaze pouted, "It's stronger than mine!"

"That's one of the strongest cards ever made," Tristan said, "Well, other than the Egyptian Gods."

I held my new, precious card gently in my grip. "Cool." That was the only thing I could think of to say.

"So now only you and Kaiba have Blue Eyes White Dragons out of everyone in the world," Yugi pointed out.

"Right," Mr. Moto said. "It would be wise to keep that card somewhere safe. A lot of people would love to get their grubby hands on a card like that."

"I'll keep it safe, I promise," I answered.

"Hey," Tea joked, "Remember what you said about Blaze and the Red Eyes? Well you look a lot like that Blue Eyes!"

"I do, don't I?" I answered. Though I already knew this. I glanced over to the clock on the wall behind Yugi and Mr. Moto and saw the time. "Oh shistza! I gotta go to my job soon!" I thanked Mr. Moto for the cards as did Blaze then we hurridly rushed outta the store. Oh man. I gotta change then I gotta sprint if I wanna get there on time and Raileth- "Ow!"

I had just ran full speed into what felt like a tree. I abruptly lost my balance and began to fall backwards when a hand reached out and grabbed my wrist and pulled me to its body. I was so off kelter that my cheek actually rested to the front of whoever helped me on impact. Immediantly my face went red hot. This person, whoever he is (and I think it's a he 'cause his chest is flat yet muscular), made me feel bashful upon contact with him. My hands fell near my face onto his black shirt. His heartbeat stayed at the same pace though mine was jumping through my chest. This may sound weird, but I vividly remember what he smelled like. He smelled like man (duh) but he smelled clean in the sense that everything he was wearing was either new or really expensive and neat. Please let this be Channing Tatum! Please let this be Channing Tatum!

I sheepishly looked up and saw the cold stare of Seto Kaiba. Dammit. Well, that entire previous paragraph is very embarrassing now. I was at a lost for words as he pushed me away gently. It was then that I noticed Mokuba and Blaze staring at us in complete suprise.

"Um, thanks," I said trying to use my bangs to hide my blushing face.

"You're blushing," Kaiba said.

Double dammit. "Sorry." Really? I mentally slapped myself. Why did you apalogize you stupid idiot? Admitt the obvious and get it over with!

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Kaiba asked.

"Like that is any of your business," I retorted, remembering what he did this afternoon to everybody.

"It might be," he answered.

"My personal life has nothing to do with you! You don't even care about me anyways."

His eyes seemed to soften a bit as he spoke next. "Elektra, I never said anything about not caring about you."

At about this time, Mokuba and Blaze were beyond confused. As was I. Seto Kaiba has a heart? Who knew?

"Really?"

"Well, if you died then it would be rather unfortunate," he answered regaining his icey glare.

One half of me felt a little more at ease while the other half felt broken. Damn you womanly fantasies! Go back into the awkward parts of my brain and never show your creepy thoughts again!

"Set- I mean Kaiba," I said, forgeting to call him by his last name instead of his real name, "You can hate me all that you want, and you can hate everything that I appreciate, but if you expect me to lose my temper and go off on you like Joey does, it isn't gonna happen. Ever." A look of suprise lit up his face as I went on. "You're not a bad person, and you don't need for me to repremand you whenever you critisize something. I know you."

"You know nothing about me!" Kaiba yelled.

I said nothing but I looked up at him with my sad eyes in an attempt to get him to acknowledge what we already know. I know him better than he knows himself and he knows me better than I know myself.

But instead of sucking up his pride and acknowledging that we could start over, he grunted and walked past me. By this time his brother and my sister were trapped in an awkward gaze due to our convesation.

"Mokuba, come on," Kaiba called from afar. But he stood there in his trance. "Mokuba!" This time Mokuba snapped out of it then ran after his brother, but not before yelling an awkward goodbye to us.

Blaze turned and gave me her I-know-what-you-are-thinking look.

"What?" I questioned.

"You like him, don't you?" Blaze teased.

My face went red again. "N-no."

She laughed lightly then said, "It's okay, honestly. You two would be cute together."

"Well... I have my reasons for liking him and my reasons for not liking him," I admitted. What? He's super nice once you get through the hard and highly obvious barrier that his his personality. He used to love to goof around and play with me when we were kids. Once even we... kissed. It wasn't like romantic or anything; it was behind a tree on Valentine's Day and it only lasted three seconds then we never ever did it again.

Blaze smirked and went on ahead of me. I glanced back and caught Kaiba looking back at me. He spun his head around quickly, and even that and the fact that he was pretty far away didn't keep me from seeing him blushing.

I see how it is.

* * *

I apologize for making fun of Pegasus's name I couldn't help it. Also, I am sorry for that Bronie crack in the begining but you have to admitt that seeing a grown-ass man wearing a crop top in a MLP shop is very creepy.

Have you ever noticed that Yugi and his grandfather have basically the same hairstyle? I've always thought that it was very weird.

Next chapter: You will meet a new OC named Raileth. She'll become more important later on, I promise. Also I'll explain what happened between Joey and Mai. Anyways, Later!


	5. Why Doesn't Karma Work?

Things are about to get bad. Also, things are gonna get better. It's like a give a little take a little situation. Also, like I promised, I'm elaborating on what happened with Joey and Mai and more stuff about Kisara's connection is in here, though the situation will still be as vague as ever (sorry!).

Reminder: Please do not sue.

* * *

Strike Down

Five: Why Doesn't Karma Work?

* * *

Oops.

The next day, I learned that Kaiba went to Mr. Moto's shop and harrassed everyone into giving him the Blue Eyes White Dragon card. Yugi was able to convince him that the shop doesn't have the card and also didn't tell him that I own the card now. I thanked graciously, of course, but that didn't stop me from feeling guilty for the way Kaiba treated them. But even through all this, they remained my friends.

Three days past without anymore run-ins with Kaiba other than seeing him pick of Mokuba in the limo. He never said anything though. Also, Yugi, Blaze, and Joey taught me how to play duel monsters with my Blue Eyes. We had to do it in secret with everyone hopelessly looking for my card. I beat Joey a lot, but I always lost to Yugi and Blaze. In my defense, it's hard to duel with only nine cards. Blaze has twenty-one and Yugi has God knows how many. Also, Tea invited for me and Blaze to go on a girls' night out with her and Joey's sister Serenity on Saturday. That Friday, when school finally ended, Blaze and I joyfully sprinted home and had our free time; the time in the week when neither of us has to go to school or work. Even though I had to go to work in the morning.

* * *

(_3rd person swith time!)_

Mornings sucked. Life just seemed to drag on for Kaiba. Everyday he had to go to work at some forsaken hour in the morning and work in an office all day. With no serious duel tournaments or anything abnormal in Domino City going on right now, his life seemed very blank. Well, there was one thing out of the ordinary. Elektra. She came back into his life. But why? Why does he care for her so much? _And why the hell was I blushing after she ran into me the other night?_ he thought.

And there was also that new Blue Eyes White Dragon card out there somewhere. He had to get to it. Luckily Yugi and his possi didn't get their hands on it. Especially not Joey. A shiver went up Kaiba's spine at the thought of Wheeler owning _his_ Blue Eyes. Even though he wanted to tear Kame Game to the ground with his bare hands to make sure that the card wasn't there, he had a strange feeling that the card was really close, yet not there.

He stopped walking and looked to see if the store was open. It usually was, but it was really early in the day, even for him. Kaiba likes to go to the coffee shop a few blocks away from where the high school is, though he has to get there early in the morning and walk there so he won't attract attention. Last week he got up late and couldn't even make it to the shop with all the people hounding him for autographs and asking him to duel and whatever. The entire rest of the day he was on edge; well, more than usual. You don't take away his coffee. Ever.

It was open. Thank God. Kaiba walked inside and just realized how early he was. There was a girl mopping around the tables which still had chairs sitting on top of them. She had snow white hair and was wearing a green uniform. He knew who she was, though he's never seen her in here before, but her back was turned away from him so she didn't notice him. And she was singing.

_"Breathe in slowly now_

_Darling don't lie to me,_

_Breathe in slowly now_

_Darling don't lie to me,_

_Inhale truth I plead_

_For you my only hope_

_Don't lie, don't leave,"_

Then this death metal and screamo music exploded from her ear plugs. She sang the screaming parts, but she didn't scream. She sang the lyrics in her normal, beautiful voice. Such raw, violent music contrasted tastefully with her silky, innocent voice. Her talent breifly bewitched Kaiba, but then she snapped back to reality.

"Can I have some coffee?"

* * *

(_And back to Elektra_)

I jumped back around to the sudden presence behind me. I dropped my mop to the floor and backed into a table behind me.

"Dammit Kaiba!" I swore. "Since when did you become my shadow?"

He smiled in amusement. "Gotta mouth on you now, don't you?"

"And you don't?"

"Like hell I don't."

"Thought so." I said smirking. Why was I being so casual? Wait... Does he know about my card already? Crap! Leave man, leave!

"Nice, um... singing," Kaiba said.

In my anxeity I didn't notice what he had just said. Was that... a complement? "Huh?"

"You were singing when I walked in here," he explained.

I sank into my dark pit of embarrasment. I felt so violated. I never let people hear me sing except for Blaze when I sing her lullabies. Well that and my co-worker and childhood friend Raileth. She catches me singing whenever I'm mopping before people start comming in. Well normal people at least.

"Don't get all shy on me," Kaiba said, "I know you better than that."

"Isn't that what I said to you a few days ago?" I asked.

He smiled. "Well, you were right. We know each other too well for us to just act like complete strangers."

"So, are we friends now?" I asked shyly.

"I made a promise didn't I?"

This is too cute for words. After all these years, he still remembered. Did fate bring us together for us to pick up where we left off and finish writing the chapters of our lives together? God, I sound like a cheeseball. But still, I'm not complaining.

"Elektra!" Raileth called from behind the counter. "No flirting with the customers! Especially celeberties!"

I stuck my tongue out at her. Raileth is a kind, quiet, and willing soul. She doesn't really get mad at anybody, but she likes to keep her feet on terra firma. I don't blame her with all the stress that's been left on her shoulders ever since we left Germany with her and our other friends Twyla and Terrance.

"I just wanted some coffee," Kaiba said to her.

"How you take it?"

"Black's fine."

Gross. I hate coffee to begin with, but just taking it like that is just bleh! Don't ask me why I work at a coffee shop.

"Hey, you better not let anyone you know catch you working in here," Kaiba told me. "It's against the rules for students to have jobs."

"What?!" I shrieked. "But Tea has a job!"

"Yeah but she only works on weekends. You can't have after school jobs."

Shit. Mokuba must've told him that I go to work after school. But why can't I work without being in trouble or something? "But," I said, "if I can't work then we won't be able to pay rent and be evicted. I can hardly pay for the clothes off our backs in the first place."

"Hey," Kaiba said, holding my chin up, "I'm not a snitch."

"Thank you," I replied. Not that I had to worry about him telling on me, but I was thankful that he warned me to watch out for untrustworthy students.

"Coffee's ready," Raileth called from the counter.

Kaiba smiled at me then took his coffee and left. I just kinda stood there in my fantasy world, imagining a happy ending for me and him.

"You two dating?" Raileth asked.

I walked over to her and leaned my mop to the wall. "Nope. We just know each other."

She smirked. "Don't fib with me. I saw the look in your eyes and in his. You two love each other."

Ha ha. Fib. She's such an innocent person. "No really. Do you even think that Seto Kaiba is capable of falling in love?"

Raileth shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe some people can only fall in love with certain people, and sometimes certain people are only meant to be with one certain someone so that other certain person can only trust his one true love with his jaded heart for her to heal it."

Are you lost yet? Basically she was telling me that Seto has only ever wanted me to be with him, whether he knew it or not, because he needs me to love him and bring kindness back in his heart. I should be a wisdom translater.

"And I'm not gonna tell anyone about your job either," she said.

The rest of the day went on without anything remarkably exciting happening. Finally, when my shift was over, I met up with Blaze back the apartment and took her to to the mall where we were suppossed to meet Tea and Serinity.

Blaze and I sat down by an ice cream shop and waited for them.

"How was work today?" Blaze asked.

"I saw You-Know-Who," I answered, "He told me that kids can't have after school jobs."

Her eyes went burning red with anger. "No fair! You need that job!"

"Shh!" I hushed. "Just a little louder! I don't think China heard you! We don't let anyone outside of our friends know about this, gucci?"

Blaze sighed. "Gucci."

Just then, Tea and this younger girl with shining auburn hair and hazel-ish eyes came running towards us. "Hey!" Tea called. "Sorry we're late!"

We got up to greet them. "No worries," I said smiling. I turned over to the red-haired girl. "So you must be Serenity."

She nodded. "Yep. It's nice to meet you. Elektra and Blaze, right?"

We nodded. "Yup."

"So where do you guys wanna go first?" Tea asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I have no immedient plans. Blaze?"

"Nein."

"Nope, we have no ideas."

"Hey we could go to Mai's spa," Serenity suggested.

"Are you sure?" Tea asked. "I mean, after what happened between her and Joey..."

"It's fine," Serenity grinned, "No hard feelings."

"Hey," I inquired, "What ever happened with Joey and Mai? If you don't wanna answer, you don't have to."

Serenity smiled kindly. "No, no! It's no problem at all. You see, Mai and my brother were really close friends, but Joey had the biggest crush on her. The thing was, Mai was in love with someone else. And about a few months ago Mai's boyfriend Valon proposed to her at one of Kaiba's duel tournaments. But then after it was over, Joey went up to her and poured his heart out to her, but her mind was made up."

Poor bastard. "Aww, poor guy," I said sympethetically.

"While we're on the subject of love," Tea announced with a look of mischief creeping onto her face, "how is it that you know Kaiba so well?"

I bit my lip, wary of answering.

Serenity glanced down at her phone then said, "Oh shoot! If we wanna get to Mai's spa, we'd better get going! It closes in a little bit!"

Thank God. Save that question for later. We all rushed to the other end of the mall to this tastefully gaudy, shining beauty salon. We all stopped outside as this young blonde woman with violet eyes waved at us.

"Tea! Serenity! Long time no see," the blonde lady called.

"Hey Mai," they implored.

She glanced over inquisitively at me and Blaze. "Oh, who are you two?"

"I'm Blaze and this is my sister Elektra," Blaze said. "We moved her just a little while ago."

Mai smiled kindly. "Well it's nice o meet you! I'm Mai Valentine, or, well, I'll be Mai Walker in a few months."

"I had no idea that Valon's last name was Walker," Tea said.

Mai shrugged. "Since he was an orphan, he picked his own last name."

"I know how that feels," I muttered.

"Oh, are you an orphan?"

Tea giggled. "Yeah. Her and Blaze went to the same orphanage as Kaiba and Mokuba."

Serenity and Mai were taken aback. "Well, why don't you all come in for tea and manicures?"

We all smiled and followed her inside. I'm not really one for getting "pretty". I preffer my make-up to be the blood and sweat and tears I face after my long hard day of surviving my life outside of my old foresaken home in Germany. However, beauty does not always have to be pretty.

"What would ya like hun?" Mai asked, as she prepared to paint my nails.

I shrugged. "I dunno. Honestly, I've never had my nails done before."

"Really?" Tea asked from the chair infront of me as she and Serenity were attempting to style Blaze's hair, much to my sister's disapproval.

"I've always thought it to be girly," I answered. "I am more of a woman of power and independence. I see beauty in work effort and inner spirit."

"Oh blah blah blah," Mai teased. "Look hun, I respect your view on true beauty but you can still be a powerful woman that you are already and still be girly. And just because you're doing something feminine doesn't always have to be weak."

"I understand," I said.

"I don't," Blaze protested. "I like my hair the way it freakin' is."

Everyone laughed lightly. "Don't worry Blaze," Serenity comforted. "We're not gonna cut it too short or anything. Anything lost will grow back in a few weeks."

"And I'm not doing anything ridiculously girly with you, dear," Mai said to me. "You have too much of a warrior's spirit."

I eased myself, knowing that it would be quite awhile before I'd be able to get up, even though no one else was in there since the shop was technically closed.

"So," Mai said, starting on my left hand, "I bet you have some stories about Kaiba, right?"

I sighed and blew the hair outta my face. "Depends."

Tea giggled a bit as she started undoing Blaze's ponytail. "You never answered my question earlier. I know that you're from the same orphanage and all, but I'm pretty sure that Kaiba rarely acknowledges anyone he knows if at all. You must be pretty special."

I laughed at that statement. "Special, huh? Well, we were friends for a time back in the orphanage. Close friends. And some things have been happening between us, but I'm nothing special to him."

Tea stayed real quiet before she spoke again. "Hey, listen Elektra. Yugi wasn't gonna tell you this but I just can't keep my mouth shut anymore. That Kisara girl we were talking about a few days ago, well, this is gonna sound hard to believe but Kisara was Kaiba's past life's lover."

I raised one eyebrow in need of elaboration.

She smiled then said, "You can ask Yugi about this later because it's really involved, but back in ancient Egypt Kaiba's past life, Priest Seto, was a part of the Pharoh's court and there was this girl that he cared for named Kisara. She was really strange looking for an Egyptian. She had the long, white hair and lapis lazuli blue eyes. She looked alot like you, but her skin was much more pale. Anyways, the two were in love when Kisara sacrificed herself to save the Priest. After some other things involving monsters and the king were resolved, Kisara became the Blue Eyes White Dragon and promissed to forever serve him in that form."

Was this girl on crack? No, that's not Tea's style at all. But this story was insane. It was too convenient to be true. I closed my eyes and smiled. "Excuse my rudeness Tea, but I no longer believe in fairytales."

"There's somethings that I can't explain," Mai chimed in, "but I find that hard to believe myself."

Tea scoffed. "Well it's true."

"Besides," Mai said, "Elektra doesn't need a fairytale to know that her and Kaiba belong together."

My face went red hot as I tried to hold my tea glass I got from Mai earlier steady.

Serenity giggled. "Yup, they're perfect to each other. Elektra's the Yin to Kaiba's Yang."

"Seto and I aren't dating," I explained. "I doubt that he even likes me that way."

All of the girls laughed, even Blaze.

"You just called him by his first name, sis," Blaze chuckled.

I went red all over agian.

"And even if he doesn't like you that way," Serenity questioned, "doesn't stop fate. Do you like him that way?"

I'm not gonna lie. "Yes," I answered, sounding suprisingly bold.

All of the girls _"ooo_ed" at my comment. We considered with gossip about our boy crushes; Tea talked about Yugi, Serenity about Tristan and Mai about Valon. Blaze, suprisingly, talked about this popular boy in her class named Gryphon. Of course, I talked about the boy from my childhood who saved me from my loneliness. After about an hour or two later, they were done fixing up me and Blaze. Her hair was now shorter by two inches and was gorgeously straight and had a red flower over her right ear. She also got Mai to do her nails and she ended up with red nails with black fish net accents on them along with black graphic designs. Serenity and Tea curled my hair and put a blue lightning hair clip on the back of my head. And I have to hand it to Mai for doing such a good job on my nails. They where cobalt blue with white, black, and navy blue swirls on them. We each took turns decorating each other when finally we were finished. We thanked Mai and went on our way over to an ice cream shop that was still open when we saw those bullies from school.

They all smirked at me in eyes full of malice.

"The hell are you looking at?" I called from nine feet away.

The girls all started to laugh maniacly at my insult. What are they so giddy about? I'd like to see them giggling after I beat the living crap outta them.

"Just ignore them Elektra," Tea warned.

I was about to keep walking when I hear the burnette scream, "Hey, Albino! How's work?"

No. No no no no. She... she can't. Just then, Serenity handed me her phone and whispered, "I'm sorry, Elektra." I glanced down at the familiar picture of me talking to a customer on Facebook. Oops. They must've came in there and snapped a photo of me without me noticing. Not that it mattered now. Now I had to focus on surviving after the school hears about this. Little did I know, that would soon become the least of my worries.

* * *

The moral to the story is to not be a snitch. Well, that song in the begining is VERY metal, though I am not a huge fan of metal. Personally I preffer modern or christian rock. Also, I do not own that song. Please, for the love of God, don't sue me.

I apologize to the cheesy section of this I was having a Disney moment (no offense to Disney I love your movies). And no I don't think that Valon's real last name is Walker, but wikipedia is not that reliable! (If you want to, I give you full permision to imaginarily slap me for that).

Twyla and Terrance are OCs too, but again they are based off of already existing monsters/characters like Elektra and Blaze. They'll appear sometime later.

This is actually true: Student's at Domino High can't have jobs. They also can't date. I guess that they just bend the rules for Yugi and Tea then...

This is a clue for the next chapter: What will happen if you're really poor and you loose five sevenths of your normal minimum wage of approximently $7.25 a day and you have to pay a rent of $250 a month along with the expenses of food for two, what will happen?


	6. Starvation

The answer to the question on the last chapter was: "You would not be able to pay for the apartment and go broke." This chapter is kinda short for some reason but screw it, it's perfect as it is. Also, there is quite a bit of cursing in here, not that's it's news to anyone familiar with the story thus far. And feel free to review guys. Like I've said, I accept all critisism.

Anyways, here ya go.

* * *

Strike Down

Six: Starvation

* * *

Somebody save me.

A month went by. Those brown-nosed little bitches snitched on me to the school and I had to settle for weekend jobs strictly. Luckily, Blaze and I weren't kicked out. But my income was so low that we could hardly pay for the food and the bill, and we have to move out tomorrow due to my lack of money. We were about to become homeless.

We were so low on cash that I began to not eat anymore. I gave most of all the food I could afford to Blaze. I was really feeling the consequences of my starvation for the past few weeks. I'm not for sure, but I think that I lost twently pounds. My legs started to become weak and numb, and I stopped letting Joey eat my food. Many of my friends have offered me a place to stay, but I couldn't burden them like that. I'm pretty sure that their families have enough to deal with. Still, through it all, I excelled in school and kept a positive attitude. It was all I had left.

It was Wednesday, and me and Tea were in gym class running around the track. Even though I was deathy malnurished, Tea and I basically lead the group with us both currently tied for third. I thought I was doing good, until I saw the ground and trees begin to levitate.

"Elektra?" Tea called from beside me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded violently. "It's my last lap. I'll make it."

I was lying to myself. Every ounce of my being ached with severe agony. My body was deprived of rest and energy and adrenaline. I felt extremely fatigued, but still I kept running. My stomache started to finish off whatever fat still remained in my body as I rounded the last corner. Every fiber of my conscience told me to stop. It told me to just fall down to the ground and die. It told me that I could no longer go on. But I just didn't listen. Just when I was about to fall to the ground and stay there, I saw my feet pass that bold white line. I was done.

I and Tea abruptly stopped, with her only mildly winded while I was hunched onto my knees using my last reserves to just stand. My sight was horribly blurry, and I couldn't tell if what I was seeing was real anymore.

"Elektra," Tea said sternly concerned, "You are not okay. You need to do something."

I said nothing. If I tell the teachers, then they'll call CPS and seperate me and Blaze. Or worst, send us back home. Then that stupid obese girl and her blonde friend came up to me.

"What is she annorexic now, too?" The new blonde asked.

The black-haired girl snorted in laughter. "More like bolemic!" Then she stuck her finger in her mouth and the blonde copied her reaction.

I turned to them, their silohettes shaking, stuck out my middle finger to them, and replied, "Go screw yourself in the ass with a chainsaw."

They both sneered as they walked proudly past me. They can just go straight to Hell.

* * *

(_It's that time again, 3rd person narrative_)

Life in almost funny at times. It's almost like things happen for a reason. Maybe Kaiba did believe in destiny a little bit. A _little_ bit.

He looked out of the window of his limousine looking for his little brother. It used to be easy to pick him out of a crowd but with Mokuba's hair shorter now the task was a bit harder. Kaiba has always wondered why Mokuba got his hair cut in the first place. The entire topic came out of the blue. _"Hey bro, I was thinking about getting my hair cut short today."_ Teenagers seem to change their minds more often than some.

The vehicle pulled to a stop infront of the high school. Kaiba glanced over to make sure that Mokuba was comming. He was. But then something else caught his eye. Elektra. She looked like a ghost. Her hair looked horribly messy and her uniform was wrinkled and looked as if it hadn't been washed in days. Not to mention that Elektra had dark, sunken eyes and was just skin and bones. He never knew that a human being could look that skinny and still be living. A thought passed through Kaiba's mind briefly, making him feel guilty for assuming it, and sorry if what he was thinking was true. He started to think that Elektra was annorexic or bolemic. The very notion sickened him. Elektra was beautiful in her own right, and didn't need to sink to that- _Did I just think that Elektra was "beautiful"?_ he thought. He shook his head in disapproval of himself. Even at eighteen, almost nineteen, he thought he would be rid of his adolecent urge for the opposite sex.

The door opposite of him opened and Mokuba slid into his seat. "S'up?"

"Hey bro," Kaiba greeted.

Mokuba chuckled for no reason.

"What?"

"I was just thinking about this joke Blaze told me."

"Care to enlighten me?"

"I was staring at a hooker the other day. She gave me visual AIDS."

The elder brother shook his head in disapproval, yet he was unable to keep the smirk from forming on his face. "Wow."

Mokuba laughed at his brother's reaction.

"What's wrong with Elektra?" he finally asked.

His younger brother's giddy mood faded quickly. He was relunctant to answer, and when he did he used a melancholy tone. "Some of those girls caught her working after school, so she could only work on weekends. She used the last of her money to try to keep her apartment, but they got evicted about a week ago. They've been living on the street and Elektra gives most of her food to Blaze and she hasn't slept at all since then."

Kaiba felt a sudden compultion to turn back around and take her home before he realized how awkward that situation would be. Yeah, two teenage girls living alone with a CEO in his mansion doesn't sound perverted at all. Then again it would be out of the kindness on whatever excuse for a heart he has not the nagging feeling in his mind telling him to try to find a girl.

"I don't get why they won't except help from anyone," Mokuba sighed.

"CPS would just seperate them," Kaiba explained, "And most of your friends' parents have enough to deal with trying to pull through this damned economy."

Mokuba shook his finger and pointed out, "Ah, you cussed."

"Not really the key issue right now Mokuba."

"Right," he agreed, "Blaze looked really stressed today. She's frustrated because she can't help her sister. I hate seeing her like that."

Seto looked over to his little brother knowing what he was thinking. Mokuba had a crush on Blaze.

"What?" Mokuba demanded.

"Don't you think that Blaze is a little wild for you?" Kaiba teased.

Mokuba's face went bright pink. "I-I don't like her like that!"

"You can't lie to me."

Mokuba gained a mischevious smile on his grimace. You take a swing at him, he'll swing back. "Then don't lie to me when I ask you this: How do you feel about Elektra?"

Kaiba couldn't stop the red from flushing onto his face.

"No comment."

(_1st person again_)

* * *

I felt like pure death. My heart could barely pump blood into my dying body. My stomche had just started eating some of my internal organs, I guess, and my body was going to give at any moment. I was gonna die soon.

It was Friday, and I had to stay after school to clean the floors in the cafeteria. I wasn't in trouble, it was custom for students to sometimes stay after school and do chores. Blaze had to stay longer than me for tutoring, so I figured that I could just wait outside and do whatever. Though I was pleasently suprised when I saw that familiar black haired boy with violet eyes.

"Hey Mokuba," I said, startling him.

He was sitting out by the gates and was playing some game on his iPhone. He looked really mature with that uniform and short hair. Blaze and him should totally be together. They'd be so cute and my little nieces and or nephew would be cute like them! Or me. Hopefully not like Kaiba, though. I'd hate to see Blaze's face when she gives birth to a frowning baby.

"Hey, what're you still doing here?" Mokuba asked.

I shrugged as I sat down beside him. "I had to do chores and now I have to stay until Blaze gets done with tutoring. Whatta 'bout you?"

He sighed kindly. "Seto's late comming home from a business trip from Seattle."

My stomache growled loudly, hurting me from lack of nurishment.

"You okay?" Mokuba asked sounding very concerned.

"Don't worry about me," I smiled, even though my starvation was agonizingly killing me. You have no idea what true hunger feels like. It's a slow, detereorating death. Please. Somebody save me.

I pulled out my phone and started listening to my music. I wish I could drown myself in my music. Especially this song. "Monster You Made Me" ; it reminds me of myself. I glanced over and saw a pair of violet eyes prying at my screen.

"What song is that?" Mokuba asked.

I pulled out one ear plug and handed it over to him. "Wanna listen?"

He took the plug from my hand and started listening. After a few seconds, he began to smile. "You really need to get Seto to listen to this."

I smirked at his comment. But then my stomache began to tie into hard knots in intense hunger. I have never felt such a craving for food. At this point, I'd eat almost anything.

"Elektra, you need some help," Mokuba insisted.

"No!" I protested. "I'm fine. I'll be okay."

"You don't even have a home anymore."

"Well, I have a shelter. It's nothing I'm not used to. I've been homeless before, Mokuba."

He sighed and stopped trying to convince me otherwise. My eyes started playing tricks on me again as I could swear that I was seeing unicorns chasing miniature forms of Abraham Lincoln on scooters. I believe/hope that was due to a combination of my hunger and insomnia. The buildings started falling over and I got that weird feeling that I was steadily falling, and in anticipation of the contact with the ground my legs jerked me awake.

I've never felt so tired either. I haven't really slept for about five days trying to keep any wanderer from mugging, murdering, kidnapping, or rapping us. I kept that gun in a duffel bag along with everything else in the safe (along with the Blue Eyes) and hid it somewhere protected. What do you actually think that I put everything in my backpack or something? Did you really think that I would bring a gun to school? Sorry, but I don't feel like being arrested for that.

I tilted my head back and tried to keep myself awake and alive with every last microscophic fiber of my dying being when I heard the familiar thud of uniform female shoes. I turned to my right and saw Blaze peek her head around the corner searching for me.

"Oh!" Blaze said. "There you are. Oh, hi Mokuba!"

"Hey," Mokuba called from beside me.

"C'mon Ella, it's time to go now."

I groaned as I somehow managed onto my feet but not without having to pause and regain my breath and steady my failing vision. Blaze attempted to hold me up, but I rejected her action. I was busy trying to catch my breath when that same sleek-ass limousine pulled up. Only this time, Kaiba actually came out. He walked around the limo to us. Our eyes met.

"I'm looking for Yugi," he said.

I cut my eyes and replied, "What the hell does that have to do with me?"

"You hang out with him the whole time," he said with a hint of jealousy in his voice.

Why is he being such a jerk now? I thought we were cool. "I have no idea, dude. Why do you wanna see him anyways?"

"It's too complicated to go into right now, and I don't have the time to explain it," His eyes sort of softened as I yawned loudly. He spoke again in a kinder, less abrassive tone. "Hey, are you okay?"

I tried to smile the brightest I could and replied, "Don't worry about it. I just need to get back on track and everything will be A-okay!"

Blaze turned her gaze to the ground frustrated with my stubborness. No one seemed to believe in my cheerful reply.

Kaiba had a prolonged blink before he said, "Fine. I'll look for Yugi or one of his nerd possi tomorrow. C'mon Mokuba."

Mokuba gave us a wave as we began to walk away. If only I could manage. My legs felt like lead and every step I took hurt like I had to rip off the tendons in my legs everytime I picked them up. At first I thought my visions made it seem like I was going slow, but Blaze was actually ahead of me and I actually only took ten steps before my body gave up on walking.

"Elektra?" I heard Blaze call.

I couldn't answer. My mouth opened slightly but I couldn't make a sound. All of the sudden, I could feel every part of my body shut down. Except for my heart. Its beats were long and loud and throbbed against my chest violently. I could feel it. I was seriously, undoubtfully dying right now. I was gonna die leaving Blaze alone. Damn. Damn me straight to Hell. She deserved a better life that I have given her. Forgive me Blaze.

I let out one final breath as I collapsed to the ground. I could taste a hint of blood in my mouth as I could just make out the sound of people rushing over to me. Though that was the last thing I remember before everything went dark.

* * *

Dum-da-DUHHH. Cliffhanger. Gotta love them.

Next chapter: There will be NO POV FROM ELEKTRA. Everything will be told from 3rd person and I will build on Mokuba's and Blaze's realationship. Also Kaiba's realationship with Elektra will be more defined.

So, Later!


	7. Maybe Alive

Like I have said before, Elektra's POV is not present in this chapter. This will not be the last time this will happen.

There will be a bit of German in this chapter, so grab your German buddy and read the German words. I've actually have had some people from Germany read this so... yay them. Am I German? No. I just know a little bit of their language. And I can't put the accent thingys on the words because I'm... I really don't have a liable excuse. ...Just, read the chapter and ignore me. Go on, read.

* * *

Strike Down

Seven: Maybe Alive

* * *

Life wasn't as fair as it should be.

"ELEKTRA!" Blaze screamed as she rushed over to her incompasitated sister.

Kaiba turned around just in time to see Elektra fall to the ground. What happened? Is she dead? Mokuba was already to Blaze's side within seconds as Kaiba remained in stationary shock. Even the driver, Mr. Lewis, was out of the limo and assessing the damage from afar.

"Mr. Kaiba?" Mr. Lewis said in a meek and fearful tone.

But Kaiba was still standing in his one spot, unable to react to Elektra possibly being dead.

"Mr. Kaiba!" Mr. Lewis shouted in an abrassive tone, finalling snapping his employer out of his daze.

"Oh, um, we have to get her somewhere safe," he answered finally.

"Should I call the cops, sir?"

"No," the CEO replied remembering the consequences involving CPS and deportation, "Call Dr. Adreck and tell him to haul his ass to the mansion ASAP."

The driver nodded, and retracted back into the vehicle as Kaiba forced himself to move towards Elektra's body. What would he do if she was dead? He didn't really know her well, but the thought of her dying made him feel depressed to say the least.

He knelt down beside Mokuba who was trying to console Blaze who was extremely frantic at the moment. "Seto," Mokuba said, "is she, you know, dead?"

Kaiba didn't answer. He just stared intensly at Elektra's body which had been rolled over on her back. She looked very fragile, like an angel. Her skin looked soft and smooth despite the scratches and dirt from her time on the streets. Her white hair was tangled and filthy, cloaking the beautiful white-silver hair that illuminated her face like the stars around the moon.

He bent over and placed the right side of his head on her chest to listen for a heart beat. He tried very hard and was near straining for his face to remain peach in pigment and to keep the pink blush subdued.

"K-Kaiba?" Blaze murmered from his side, wrapped in Mokuba's arms. "What th-the hell are you doing?"

"Checking for a heart beat," he answered. He didn't feel like repremanding her for cussing at him. She wasn't his responsibilty, so why should he care?

"And?" Mokuba asked.

He groaned as he sat back up, his legs getting slightly numb, and answered, "She's alive. Can't say for how long though. We're gonna take her back to the mansion and have Dr. Adreck take a look at her."

Mokuba uneasily got up from a still weeping Blaze and called for his brother to talk to him in private. When he thought that no one could hear him, he stated, "Look, bro, as much as I would love to help them, do you really think that they'd be any safer with us than they are right now? I mean, with the press and all the people who want you dead-"

"Hey, not that many people hate me," Kaiba interupted.

Mokuba cut his eyes at him and grimaced a look of annoyance. "Do I _need_ to remind you how many times I've been kidnapped?"

"Okay, granted, but between CPS, deportation, and impending death I think that we're the best option," he pointed out.

The younger brother sighed loudly then finally allowed his reasoning. Kaiba walked back over to them and lifted Elektra into his arms. She was really light; felt like she weighed as much as Mokuba a year ago, which only conceren him further. Her head tilted back and turned towards him, though she still remained unconscious.

Meanwhile, Mokuba helped Blaze onto her feet and held her close to him. If he was anyone else, Kaiba would think that he's just being courteous to Blaze so he could take advantage of her weakening psyche. But no. It was Mokuba. He had to big of a heart to do something as shallow as that.

Blaze sniffled a bit and broke herself away from Mokuba and said, "W-wait. I n-need to go get our stuff."

"Can't it wait?" Kaiba questioned a little harsher than he meant for it to sound.

She shook her head. "No. S-someone would steal it."

He looked over to his little brother. Mokuba nodded. "Don't worry," Mokuba said to Blaze, "I'll go with you. Seto is gonna take Elektra to our doctor and get her fixed up."

Blaze walked passed Mokuba and went straight up to Kaiba and hugged him. "Thank you," she muttered.

Kaiba didn't know how to react to Blaze's affection. No one, not even his brother, has been bold enough to do that in a very long time. He just stood there until she let go and her and Mokuba hurried away off to where ever Elektra stored there belongings.

Kaiba turned and opened the door of the limousine, careful not to bump Elektra's head, and made his way into the vehicle. He cradled Elektra gently in his arms, suppressed from the world around him by his worry for her safety.

"What did Dr. Adreck say?" he asked his driver.

"He'll be at the estate around the time that we arrive, sir," Mr. Lewis answered.

"Good."

"What about Master Mokuba?" he asked.

"He's going with her sister to collect their things," Kaiba said.

Mr. Lewis knew better than to ask anymore questions. Mr. Kaiba isn't a man who likes to be bombarded with too many questions, especially when he might not know the answers to some.

He looked back down at the fragile girl in his arms as the engine started. He bowed his head towards her and whispered in a tone that was almost inaudible. "I'll keep you safe."

* * *

(_New perspective_)

It was an hour away from dark, and Blaze had just made it to their pitifull shelter, if it was even that at all. For about a week, Blaze and Elektra have been living in the woods far outside of Domino City with only the towering pine trees and two old sleeping bags acting as their only furnishings.

Blaze stood infront of the ashes left after the fire her sister had built last night. It was like there was a void inside her heart now where her sister was suppossed to be. She missed Elektra's presence. She missed her warm heart and wisdom. How could those bitch girls do this to her? Life wasn't as fair as it should be.

She turned around to the sound of heavy panting as Mokuba at last caught up with the red-eyed girl. "B-B-Bla-la-la..."

"Winded much?" Blaze commented.

Mokuba tried to laugh, but like Blaze said, he was too wineded. "Why are you guys so far out in the forest?"

Blaze shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. Elektra came up with the idea. 'We would be safer in the woods than on the streets with drunkyards and rapists' she said. 'And it's nothing we're not used to.' Can't really blame her though. I feel more at home in the wilderness than within civilization."

"Why?"

Blaze turned back towards him and smiled in a wonderful way. "I do not fear the unknown that exists in the places that surround us as much as I fear the monsters that humanity has created."

Mokuba looked at her with a blank espression. Oh dear. Blaze faultered her courage as she clammed back into her shell.

"Oh, have I... said something stupid?" Blaze asked timidly.

Mokuba shook his head as he walked forward and cupped her hands in his. "No. You're very wise."

The last rays of sunlight glittered across the sky as twilight casted shadows around them. The cricketts started chirping their songs of love as a stillness befell the scene. Blaze saw a weird look in Mokuba's stare; something she hasn't seen before. He held his gaze as he stepped forward... right on her foot.

"OW!" Blaze cried as she backed away, prancing on one foot whilst holding the other in her hands.

Mokuba face palmed himself the apologized, "Sorry! Sorry! I-I didn't mean to-"

"Dude! What the crud were you doing anyways?" Blaze demanded.

"Umm..." That was all he said. He didn't want her to know what he wanted to do.

Blaze sighed as she let go of her foot. "Ugh, whatever. It's not like you meant to do it."

"R-right."

Blaze walked over to a fallen tree where they had stashed their belongings. Mokuba followed her. She pulled out a large duffel bag and threw it over her shoulder. Then she told Mokuba to go over and roll up the sleeping bags. After that, they started making their way back when Mokuba's phone started ringing.

"Oh shoot," he said as he moved the sleeping bags under one arm as he reached into his pants pocket to pull out his phone. "It's Seto."

Blaze waited patiently yet anxiously as Mokuba answered the phone.

"Hello?... No... We're out in the woods... Well w-... Hey, it's where _they_ chose to live!... Yeah I'm alright... Uh, okay. Well, how's Elektra?... Oh. Um... Well okay... Bye." Mokuba put his phone back in his pocket and sighed.

"What'd he say? How's Elektra?" Blaze asked frantically.

He grinned and said, "Elektra's doing better. Dr. Adreck put her on an IV drip to get some nutrience in her. Though she's gonna be out for a few days."

Blaze practically threw herself at Mokuba and cried, "Oh thank God!" She embraced him tightly before she pulled back and brushed his shaggy bangs back and kissed his forehead. "Thank you."

Mokuba felt his legs become jelly and the butterflies in his stomach. It wasn't like the one he had planned but a kiss was a kiss. It was probably the best he would get from someone like Blaze.

"What else did he say?" Blaze asked.

"Huh?" Mokuba answered in a trance-like state. But the look of her face snapped him back to reality. "Oh! Um, he said that he'll meet us by the bridge on the end of town to pick us up."

"Pfffft. He can drive?" Blaze joked.

Mokuba laughed and replied, "Yeah. He just uses the limo to pick me up whenever he comes from work and walks whenever he's at home. But whenever he's going outta the city he'll drive."

"Man I bet that Kaiba's got some sweet-ass cars," Blaze said, "Stingrays, Ferraris, Lamborghinis... Man, I could die happy if I could just sit in that fine leather driver's seat and feel that Lamborghini's V12 engine running and hear those tires skid on the pavement when I floor the gas pedal on that Ferrari Testarossa F110. You know what I mean?"

"... Yeah," Mokuba answered, not knowing how else to answer. It was embarassing to know that a girl knew more about cars than him. But weren't stingrays animals?

Blaze giggled at his reaction. "Now hurry. It's almost dark."

* * *

(_Switch back to Kaiba_)

Elektra was asleep now. People sleeping was probably the most peaceful thing one could see. Because, in that moment, nothing was happening to them. They were safe, at peace, and still. The same goes for Elektra. She lay flat in the guest bed with an IV connecting her arm to a bag hanging from a steel bar.

He was sitting in a chair next to her, barely awake from current events with only his nervousness keeping him awake. Mokuba and Blaze where already asleep by now and Dr. Adreck had gone home for the night only to return in the morning to check on her.

Still so many thoughts were buzzing in Seto's mind. Was Elektra going to be okay? Did he make the right decision? Was his lifestyle really the best for Elektra to be introduced to? He made that promise to her so many years ago about being her friend forever, and sure it was an elementary promise, but Elektra wasn't just some little girl. Back in the happier portion of his childhood, back at the orphanage, boys were suppossed to think that girls were "yucky" and had "coodies". Today he didn't date because girls were bitchy and had STDs. But back then Elektra wasn't like the other girls. She loved to stretch the boundaries and adapt to things that other kids would be afraid of like spiders, bugs, and snakes. She didn't mind getting her hands dirty and she was mature enough to understand the things Seto would talk about with her. She was everything he could ask for.

* * *

"You know what?" Seto said to the white-haired girl sitting at the opposite end of the sandbox. "One day I wanna make this huge amusement park, like the one I showed Mokuba that day."

"I never saw it," Elektra said, drawing something in the sand, her accent very thick at the time.

He smiled at her and replied, "Oh, sorry. I couldn't find you that day. Well, anyways I had this idea to build this gigantic amusement park for orphans like us. Sound cool?"

"Um, ja? Konnten Sie etwas langsamer sprechen? Ich verstehe nicht," Elektra said in a confused tone.

Seto laughed. He had gotten used to Elektra's misunderstanding of the English language, but he thought that he had gotten her to understand most of it. He guessed that she must still not know about amusement parks.

"I want to _bauren_ a _Spielhalle_ for orphans like you and me," Seto tried to say in German, though he knew that the last word meant "amusement arcade" not "amusement park".

She nodded, understanding him now. "Oh, that sound good!"

He smiled at her again. Then he became curious of what she was drawing and strained his head upwards, trying to get an angle on her picture.

"V-... I mean, _what_ are you doing?" Elektra asked, forcing the _"wh"_ sound.

"What're you drawing?"

Her face went bright red as she covered up the spot where she had drawn in the sand. "I do not want for you to see."

Seto walked over and tickled her onto her side, leaving her picture open. It was a heart with an arrow through it with a "S" and an "E" in the middle with a plus sign between them. Seto turned back toward Elektra who was blushing vibrantly.

"You love me?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. She said, "I guess I love you. But know I not that love is."

Seto grinned again, both from her charm and her horrible grammar, and said, "You saw Titanic that one day, right?"

She thought about it for a moment. "That movie with the ship that sank and the guy whose butt fell on the big propellor when he jumped near the end?"

"The same," Seto answered, "Well, what Rose and Jack felt for each other was true love."

Elektra was quiet for a moment before she abruptly stood up with one hand on her hip and the other on the back of her head and behind her hair. "Draw me like on of the girls of the French."

Seto laughed loudly. "Ah, no. That's... too adult."

"Adult?" Elektra asked as she cautiously stepped towards him.

"Well, it's not something that I... would... do...," Seto stopped talking as Elektra came ever more close. Even as young as they were, him being eleven and her being nine, the feelings stirring in Seto's heart captivated him into pulling her to him. They held each other for the longest time.

"I love you, Seto," Elektra whispered.

"I love you, too," Seto answered.

* * *

Kaiba looked back towards the comatose girl laying in the bed infront of him. The word "love" is so cheap these days. People say it and say the complete opposite the next day. But on that day with Elektra, Seto had meant what he had said.

He reached over and tossed away some of her bangs from her face and stroked her cheek gently. She meant much more to him than any other stupid girl. Though he may not particularly love her, he did care for her. She was his friend.

Elektra stirred in her sleep. "Father..."

Seto stroked her hair as she continued to to mutter in her sleep.

"Father... Father... Father..."

"Shh," Seto whispered as he got up. "You're safe now."

"Father..."

He bent over and kissed her forehead, feeling the burn of her fever on his lips, and left her to try and get some deeply needed sleep. He shut the door as quietly as he could, leaving the girl alone in the dark room.

"...Seto."

* * *

Elektra's father is VERY important. No he is not a real Yu-Gi-Oh character he's just really important to my story. He'll come up in the next chapter and will appear more in Elektra's flashbacks.

Speaking of which, the next chapter is gonna be hecka gory. Elektra's flashbacks from her old home are gonna maintain the same level of gore if not worsened.

For those of you who haven't watched Titanic, at the scene where the ship had already split in half and Rose and Jack are at the back hanging for dear life, there really is a guy who jumps off the ship, hits the propellors with his legs, and rebounds into the ocean. I'm pretty sure he died, but that was _really_ funny.

Younger Elektra has terrible grammar because, at the time, she barely knew English. No, she doesn't have an accent anymore. Yes, she learns languages really fast. Yes, it is a traight she adapted from Kisara, even though she doesn't know who Kisara is. Also, what she said was "Um, yes? Could you speek slower? I don't understand." (Rainbow) The More You Know.

And just so this is VERY clear, the "feelings" Seto was having were not sexual in any way. He was like 11 for Chrystler's sakes! That was just the feeling of true love. (Again I give you full permission to slap me in your imagination.) And for those of you who know what amusement park he's talking about, good for you!

Spater!


	8. Awaken

(Evil laughter). And now, the evil chapter. Here's a look at Elektra's past. Granted, her childhood was not the best but it could've been worse. You'll see after you've read this. It's not _that_ bad.

WARNING: This chapter contains a bit of gore and moderate sexism. These aspects have nothing to do with me personally, for I hate sexism and I am not a mass murderer. Please do not take offense.

* * *

Strike Down

Eight: Awaken

* * *

Pure, terror... that's what it felt like.

I was five again. I was back at my small island home. Our island was only big enough for my father's mansion, which was currently home to about a hundred and fifty people, with the closest big city being either Bremen or Hamburg. We were cut off from everyone and everything else on the outside world.

In the mansion, females were only allowed to wear dresses, and females could not talk in a man's presence publicly unless spoken to or if it was a dire situation. I was free to roam the mansion so long as I never went into my father's study or room, the final floors of the dungeon, or the breeding rooms. I was also not allowed to let any kind of lawman or any public official see me. I was the only one allowed to do these activities, however, because I was the scientist's daughter and a failed attempt.

Yup. I said failed attempt. At first I was oblivious to what my father was doing, but even after I learned the truth behind his heinous acts I couldn't find it in my heart to hate him. Everytime that I would walk down into the dungeons and await for my father to come up to my room and kiss me goodnight, I could hear the screams of torture as victims were cut into tiny pieces or being raped. To this day I'm still haunted by those sounds every now and again. But still I would wait until my father would come out with blood drenched all over him.

"Elektra," he said to me, "Why are you down here? I'm busy with work."

"Father, I am waiting for you to tell me goodnight," I answered. "It is hard for me to sleep without knowing that you are here to protect me."

"Elektra, my beautiful Dragon, I will always be here. And I will let nothing awful happen to you."

Whenever he talked to me, the lapis lazuli blue eyes he shared with me would be immensly kind and clear, unlike the ones I saw everyday after he murders somebody. Those eyes are almost black and full of fury and bloodlust. Those eyes scare me.

"Father," I said, "Will you let Raileth, Blaze, Terrance, and Twyla out so we can play tomorrow?"

He smiled kindly and replied, "Of course. Raileth and Terrance will be gone three days from now, so it would be good to spend as much time with them as possible."

He means that he is going to kill them. Like me, Terrance and Raileth are failed attempts. I guess that he kept me alive because I'm his daughter. With my father, failed attempts are either good dead or good breeders. They'd preffer being dead than to be subjeced to genomic anti-mutation breeding with people who could be their siblings or parents.

"Now go to bed, my Blue Eyes," Father said as he brushed away my long white hair that we also shared and kissed my forehead.

"Yes, Father," I complied.

I made my way through the long hallways and shadowy corridors. It was quiet in there with all the visitors now being held in the dungeon being tested on God knows what, making the trek seeming much more prolonged and spooky. I hated that mansion. So, very much.

Finally, I reached my bedroom and made my way to the queen sized bed decorated in light blue flower patterns on the covers and elegant yet whimsical designs for the headboard and at the end. I curled up in my bed and shut my eyes when I heard a door slam open and screaming. A victim was escaping.

"No!" A man's voice screamed. "Get away from me you bastard! You damn bastard!"

"Stop!" Father demanded. "Horace, stop him NOW!"

It was then that I heard Horace's loud grunting and the sound of him turning on a chainsaw.

"No! No!" The man pleaded, sounding as fearful and desperate and angry as one could possibly be. "No! Let me go you bastard! You bastaaAAAAAAAAAAA!"

He never finished that swear. The silence I heard just a minute ago was replaced by the sound of animalic screaming and a chainsaw ripping apart flesh and bone from a once living being. It sounded very close to me. And I was petrified. I gripped my bed sheets as Horace continued to slaughter that man into pieces for no reason at all. Then finally the sounds of torture stopped.

Before I could even breathe, I felt a hand reach up and grab my ankle. A bloody, mangled hand. I jumped then looked over the side of my bed to see a woman with beautiful white hair and violet eyes cut in half with blood spilling out of her mouth and intrails spread all around her torso.

"M-M-Mother," I stuttered.

"You couldn't save me," My mother said with her voice echoing and blood splattering on me from her mouth as she spoke. "You couldn't save me! Elektra! Save me! Elektra! ELEKTRA!"

"No! Stop!" I pleaded. "You're dead!

"ELEKTRA! SAVE ME!"

"You're not real! Please stop!"

Then dozens of more hands wrapped around my body as several shadowy figures towered above me and held me down.

"Let go of me!" I begged. "Let GO!"

But their grip became tighter.

"ELEKTRA!"

"NO! SHUT UP!"

"STOP RESISTING!"

"LET ME GO!"

"ELEKTRA!"

"YOU'RE KILLING ME!"

"ELEKTRA!"

"YOU'RE KILLING ME!"

* * *

I balled up my left hand to make a fist and swung it at whoever the unlucky bastard was who had the black jacket and brown hair. He retreated out of the ring of people in blinding white clothes holding me down.

"LET ME GO!" I demanded, still unaware that my nightmare was over.

"Elektra," the man closest to my head said sternly. "you need to stop! We are trying to help you!"

"BULLSHIT!" I swore.

I tried to hit someone again, but then a woman threw my arm to the wall, causing a good deal of pain. I cried in fear and agony before a familiar voice rose above all of the chaos.

"STOP!" He commanded. "Everyone back the hell away and give her some space!"

Everyone standing around me suddenly let go of me and backed away. I sat up and sucluded myself into the corner where the bed I was sitting on met the intersection of the two walls. My eyes were in a frenzy with terror. Pure, terror... that's what it felt like.

"Please," I whimpered. "Please, leave me alone."

Everyone departed. Well, almost everyone. The man that I had punched before stood over by two loveseats holding a tissue up to his bleeding nose; the blood had already ruined his white button-up shirt.

"Man, you punch hard for a girl," Kaiba said.

"S-sorry," I muttered, still frightened. "Wh-where am I? Where's Blaze? What'm I doing here? Wh-what happened? How-?"

"I'll explain everything soon," he interupted. "But for now you need to calm down."

"I'd be more tranquil if you'd tell me what's happening," I said angrily.

He folded up his tissue to use the other side as he pulled up a loveseat to my bed. He looked up at me, his eyes seeming open and kind, and patted on the matress fo me to come closer. I locked my gaze on him and shook my head.

"C'mon Elektra," Kaiba sighed irritibly, "From this point on it is crucial for you to learn to trust me."

"Nah, I think that I'll stick to my corner," I retorted, finally calming down.

He reached over to me and held out his hand for me to take. Inside I knew that whatever was going on, that Kaiba would help me no matter what. I reached out, still wary from the previous events, but then finally held onto his hand. He pulled me closer to him, and even though that he was sitting down, he was at the same height as me when I crossed my legs.

"Are you feeling okay?" Kaiba asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Any dizziness? Any pain? Anything?"

"No," I answered irritibly. "Why should I? Did... Did you drug me with ruphyntol?"

"No!" Kaiba protested with a look of disgust. "No! W-why would I do that?!"

I shrugged. "I dunno. Go on."

He took a second to heal from the awkward moment that I had created and continued. "Okay, well, you passed out from hunger on Friday. Do you remember that?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Just vaguely, but yeah."

He smiled. "Good. No memory loss. Well, Mokuba and I brought you and Blaze over and you're currently living living in our house. And you can stay here for as long as you please."

"Really? No rent or anything?"

"Nope."

I nearly hugged him, but he backed away from my embrace.

"There are some rules, however."

"Like?" I asked.

"Like you can't have any boys stay over for one thing," Kaiba explained. "Then again, you're really not the kinda person to sleep around. Also, this room you're in, it's all you get. If you want anymore furniture it comes outta your pocket. And you will not, ever, interupt me while I'm doing something important or go into my room unless there is an absolute emergency."

"Alright," I said. Those were fair terms. "Anything else?"

"I guess that you don't drink or smoke or do drugs."

"No, I'm drunken prositute and drug dealer by night," I said sarcastically. "I'm currently pregnant with seven mens' kids who are all addicted to marijuana."

"I didn't think so either," Kaiba said. "But still, don't do that. Also don't have any parties while I'm gone on business or anything, and no incredibly loud music after nine. That goes for movies and video games, too. Lastly, don't bring my brother into anything unusualy stupid or dangerous."

"I'll try," I answered, "But if he gets eaten by bunch of sharks in a tornado it is not my fault at all."

"If Mokuba gets eaten by sharks in a tornado," Kaiba said, "Then I really need to re-think biology and physics."

"You and me both," I said. We both smiled. "And you're really okay with me not paying you?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes in a non-irritated way. "I'm a billionaire, I really don't need any extra money I'm not gonna use."

"True," I agreed. "Hey, what's it like being rich?"

All previous humor was lost and severity took its place. It didn't look like he had an answer for me. "Are you being serious or playful right now?" He finally asked.

I nodded my head. "I'm being completely serious."

He looked me dead in the eye and replied, "It's empty."

Wow. I really was not expecting for that to come from him. I thought that he was gonna be all sarcastic about it or something. But that made me feel a new sort of _emotion_ for him. Pity. That's what I felt.

"Empty?" I asked, amused.

Kaiba groaned and leaned back in the chair. "Yeah. I have all this money and yet I have practically no one in my life that I care about other than Mokuba."

I remained patiently silent.

"People lust for greed because they have no other wealth in their lives," Kaiba continued. "It will bring out the worst in people without a strong mental wall protecting their morals. It... does things to you."

"What has it done to you?" I quentioned.

"You've seen what it has done to me," he answered.

In that moment, that damn bewitching moment, I wanted to blurt out something cheesy like "_Your life doesn't have to be empty anymore_" or "_I have always cared about you_" or "_I have seen that it has made you stronger and mature_", but I'm not a liar. He is never going to be the same loving kid that I had a crush on all of those years ago, and it took me a long time to accept that. I can't have the life I want if I stay with him.

But I had to say something. "Kaiba, thank you."

He squinted his eyes at me, telling me to not say that. He didn't want to hear my graditude. Too bad.

"I mean it," I pressed on. "You saved my life."

He continued to give me that glare. Jeez dude. I am trying to be thankful so don't act like such a prick! Ugh, and to think that I used to like this guy.

"Kaiba," I said sternly, "I am being completely honest and grateful."

"Oh, I know," he acknowledged, "I'd just preffer if you'd stop calling me Kaiba."

"Dude," I snapped, "First I call you by your actual first name and you get pissed, and then I call you by the way you want me to call you and you still get pissed?!" I shook my head. "No, no. Make up your damn mind, wouldja?"

"Fine then. For now on I'd like it if you called me Seto."

"Whatever you say, _Seto_," I said. Then I reached over and grabbed a few tissues from a tissue box on the nightstand. "C'mon. Lift your head up for a second."

He tilted his head up as I cleaned the blood from his neck. As I wiped away the blood, I couldn't help but feel him breathe. Feel his pulse. Feel his skin. God, just thinking about that makes the whole moment seem more errotic than it was.

"How's your nose feeling?" I asked as I licked the end of a clean tissue to wipe away the dry blood.

"Not too bad," he answered. "It doesn't feel broken or anything."

"Sorry," I apologized. "I was just..."

"Having a bad dream?"

I shook my head. "No. It was a memory. A bad one, yes, but what I was seeing did happen to me before. Dammit, that shirt's probably ruined."

Seto tilted his head back down as I finished cleaning him. "Don't worry about that old shirt. I hated it anyways. But I've always wondered about what had happened to you after I left the orphanage."

"This was before I ever met you. That flashback was from my home in Germany. All I could remember seeing is what my father did to people."

"And what did he do exactly?" Seto asked, checking to see if his nose was still bleeding.

I retreated back away from him and held my head down. "Bad things. Things I don't wanna remember."

"My step-father was evil," Seto groaned as reached for more tissues. "He seperated me and Mokuba and forced me to study with a switchblade to my neck."

"Really? Just to make you study?"

He nodded. "Whatta 'bout you?"

I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, relunctent to tell him. But I did anyways. "Nah. In our house, women weren't allowed to be smart. Though Father made an execption for me because, well, I was his daughter. But after I reached sexual maturity, he would probably just use me for mutation genomic breeding like everyone else."

"'Mutation genomic breeding'? What the hell is that?"

"Father was insane. He would put two people together and jack with their genes to get a certain kind of baby," I answered. "And if they didn't want to be forced to have sex with people they didn't know and have their baby be taken away to be tested on, then they would be murdered."

I have never seen such a bizarre look on anyone's face at any point in my life. That was true, however, about what I have said about my father.

"What kind of baby?" Seto asked.

"Babies like me, Blaze, Raileth," I said. "And babies like Twyla and Terrance. You don't know them, though."

"Raileth? Your co-worker?"

"Yeah. Her, me, and Terrance are what were known as failed attempts. We weren't the kind of baby my father was looking for."

"And what happened to failed attempts?"

I looked at him straight in the eyes. "We either became breeders, or we were killed. For certain reasons that I will not go into right now, Father could not breed them with anyone else. And I wasn't gonna be used like that, nor was I gonna let him test on Blaze and Twyla like how he'd planned."

"So you left."

I nodded. "So I left."

Seto pushed his chair back and put it back next to the other infront of the T.V.. Then he walked back over to me, threw his bloody tissue in the garbage, and stretched.

"If you could go and put some clothes on, then I could show you something."

I looked down at myself and saw that I have been wearing a saggy camisole and panties the whole time. I turn my glare up to him, paralyzing him with fear of the anger and fury I had right now.

"Get out of my room before I break your nose."

* * *

This was disturbing. I even changed the rating just for this chapter and the ones like it that will be ushered in the near future.

Yes, I got the idea for Elektra's dad (his name is Klaus Redgaurd, by the way) from Aya's father off of Mad Father. Though I didn't realize that Mad Father was also placed in Germany. That was a coincidence. Though, Klaus has a different goal in mind than making dolls. Again, please don't sue.

Raileth is going to have her spotlight time at some point, and a few chapters from now I'll probably finally add in Twyla and Terrance. Those three are going to be very important people. Terrance more than anybody. Oh shoot! That's enough spoilers for that.

That was a Sharknado refrence when they were talking about not getting Mokuba into stupid danger. I couldn't help writing that crack. Sorry, oh and don't sue.

And with Elektra's clothes, her camisole was saggy enough for you to see almost all of her "canyon". That's why she got pissed.

In the Japanese version of the show, that butt-ugly butler guy with the giant freaky face who worked for Gozoburo (I think his name was Hobson?) actually forced Younger Seto to study with a switchblade. If you thought that this chapter was disturbing, you should really take a long look at that guy. He gave me nightmares. I'm serious.

Later!


	9. The Girl from Germany

In this chapter, there is no POV from Elektra either. She doesn't almost die again; I did it for literary purposes and plot developement.

There is also something in here that homosexuals may find offensive but I swear that it is not meant do insult you. I am not homophobic, I have gay friends, and I love all people.

That's all I have for now. See you at the bottom.

* * *

Strike Down

Nine: The Girl From Germany

* * *

White hair. Blue eyes.

He didn't mean to let that slide throughout their entire conversation. It wasn't like he _meant_ to not tell her that she was in her underwear so that he could stare at her exposed skin. Which he didn't... mostly because he had his head tilted away to control his bleeding nose. And it wasn't like Seto _wanted_ to see her in her underwear. Though he did get a fuzzy feeling in his stomach whenever he caught a glimpse of her bare skin.

Seto thought that he had already been over this with himself. He didn't want a girlfriend, and he sure as hell didn't want a boyfriend; he wanted to die alone. Spare that woman from any turmoil he may cause. He knows that he isn't the kind of man who could fall in love with someone, especially not someone like Elektra. She was within most stages of purity with the only sin being her language. She wasn't just some attractive girl who could bare children; she viewed the world as equal and their life intertwined in marrige would just expose her to a world of judgement and cruelty. She said that her father didn't tolerate fairness of all genders, and a world full of corperate CEOs, tabloids, and publicity would just bully her and hurt her. And Elektra deserved much better than a life of misery.

Seto stood outside her door as she got dressed. Isn't it said that girls take forever to get dressed? He moaned in aggitation having very little patience to wait around for some girl to spend all hours-

"Hey," Elektra said as she opened up the door. She was dressed in a black short sleeved white shirt with a thick black strip running across her chest. She also wore blue jeans and black and white sneakers. "Why do you look so surprised to see me? Did you really think that I was gonna take forever?"

"Not really," Seto lied.

She leaned against the wall, looking at him with her twinkling sapphire eyes. "So? What's up?"

He smirked and started walking down the stairs, Elektra not to far behind.

"Nice place you got here," Elektra commented.

"Thanks, I-"

"But why is everything prodominately white or blue?"

Seto stopped and cut his eyes at her.

"Oh, right! Your Blue Eyes White Dragon obsession," Elektra said.

He turned back around, face turning bright red, and continued walking out of the living room and muttered, "It's not an 'obsession', it's a trademark."

She giggled. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. Not that I'm not a fan of the monster myself."

He grinned, though no one would know but himself. They walked out of the dining room and into the laundry room that lead out to the backyard. Though, backyard is putting it lightly. It was more like a Garden of Eden, with almost any type of foliage or edible plants one could think of. Not to mention a small, clear stream, private lake, and gazibos and ivory bridges here and there.

Seto pushed the white door open as Elektra held her hand up to her face to sheild her from the light. When she let her arm down, she couldn't help but stand in awe of the beauty around her. It was the end of September, the twenty-ninth to be exact, and all of the trees were burnt with the deep shades of orange, gold, and crimson. The blue sky and the cerulean stream contrasted tastefully with the trees and the amber grasses.

"Seto," Elektra gasped, "This is beautiful... And chilly."

"Yeah, but, this isn't what I wanted to show you," Seto replied. "Well, it kinda is but it's not-" He looked at Elektra's blank stare and stopped rambling. "Right. Let's go."

They proceeded walking as Elektra wrapped her arms around her body due to the drop in the temperature. They walked over the first ivory bridge and Seto could already start to hear commotion going on.

"What's going on?" Elektra worried.

"It's nothing," he assured. "Don't worry about it."

"But-"

Seto ignored her and continued walking, making her pick up her pace to keep up with him. The sounds of the commotion started getting louder. Now they could hear a distinction between the voices, one being male and the other being female, along with the sounds of creatures screaming and being destroyed.

"Now I play Stop Defense!" the male said.

"Dammit! You troll!" the female retorted.

He smiled as he heard the sound of a monster attacking the other and the girl swearing and enraged of the boy's move. He continued listening as their duel continued.

"Alright," the girl proclaimed, "I'm winning this thing."

"No you can't," the boy said, "You have no more monsters to protect you and as long as I have Stop Defense you can only attack."

"Good," the female said, "I don't need to protect myself after this. Now I play Monster Reborn!"

Elektra paused for a moment as did the CEO when he noticed that she stopped walking. "It sounds like they're playing Duel Monsters."

"Just now figure that out?" Seto remarked as he continued walking. "Now stop falling back."

"Ugh. You're so impatient."

He already knew this. He's tried to stop-and-listen-and-learn-from-around-you technique and it worked as well as Romeo and Juliet's realationship. Being a CEO doesn't give you the luxury to let opportunities pass you by trying to search for the perfect choice. You had to be sharp and work fast to get as succesful as he is.

They finally walked around the curve of apple trees and saw two children dueling each other. One of them was Mokuba, who had a Spear Dragon on the field, as well as a Stop Defense card. He was wearing a white and red Jimi Hendrix tee with a black undershirt and blue jeans.

The other was a girl facing away from them who had a Red Eyes Black Dragon on the field. She had pitch black hair with red highlights in a ponytail and was wearing a red leather jacket as well and black jeans.

"Now Red Eyes Black Dragon, attack his Spear Dragon!" the girl commanded.

Her Red Eyes incinerated Mokuba's monster, knocking out the remainder of his life points, thus ending the duel. The girl started jumping up and down in joy over her victory.

"Yes!" She boasted gleefully. "Yes! Yes! Yes! I won! _I am the champ-ion! I forgot the other words!_"

Mokuba smiled at her and congradulated, "Yeah, good job for your first duel with my brother's disk."

"My _what_?" Seto demanded as both of them looked back at him and Elektra.

It was then that she notice that the other girl was Blaze. It was hard to tell with her hair shorter and with the highlights, but it was her. Her beloved little sister.

"Elektra!" Blaze screamed as the ran straight into her sister's arms, tears flowing like a river. "Y-you're alright!"

Elektra stroked her hair as she began to sob with her. "Well, I'm alive."

It warmed Seto's heart to see the love between these two siblings. They were like the female versions of him and Mokuba; their lives are tied around the other sibling.

"Is, is that blood?" Mokuba asked once he saw his brother's shirt.

Seto looked down at his blood-stained shirt and replied, "Yeah. Elektra got confused when she woke up and punched me square in the nose."

Mokuba whistled and commented, "Dang. Your girlfriend can punch."

Of course Elektra was too distraught to hear his comment, but Seto heard him as clear as day. He set his eyes right into Mokuba's and gave him a cold glare.

"She is not my girlfriend," he said.

Mokuba took his brother's usually terrifying threat lightly as he raised up his hands to show that he meant no harm. "Fine. But it's your loss."

"What'd he lose?" Elektra asked as she stood up, wiping her tears dry.

"I-I lost m-my... uhh..." Seto stuttered.

"Virginity?" Blaze asked, also recovering from her emotional outburst.

Everyone turned to her with eyes full of, and forgive the crudeness of the statement, what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you? aimed at her. Blaze teetered on her feet innocently, either oblivious or amused of the awkwardness.

"What? You're telling me that someone like the great Seto Kaiba hasn't found at least one desperate chick to hit yet?" Blaze teased.

"I'm not going to just pick up some random hooker on the street and bring her in my house," he protested.

"You don't have to bring her to your house," Elektra said. "There are motels everywhere."

Seto face palmed in disbelief of the conversation going on right now. "Hookers have diseases."

"True," Elektra agreed.

"But there are a ton of clean girls you could have," Blaze said, "And don't tell me that you have ever been in a tornament or any public gathering and not hear at least one girl not scream out 'Oh my Gerd! I wanna have yer behbies!'"

That has happened before, quite often actually, but those kind of women were the kind that would obsess over him and one day boil his daughter's rabbit in a stew pot. In truth, Seto doesn't use people like that. Even though he, like most men, have "urges", he doesn't take advantage of a woman's body like that. No matter how meaningless and demeaning they were, he refused to succum to temptation. Hey, the man has morals.

"Can we please stop talking about my sex life?" he groaned.

"More like lack of," Blaze said.

Everyone laughed. Everyone except for Seto. Blaze then took out a fraction of the cards in the duel disk and handed it over to him.

"Sorry," she said, "I kinda used your duel disk."

"What?" he said sternly.

"And I kinda used some of your cards."

"_What?_"

"And I spilled soda on your laptop."

"WHAT?!"

Blaze laughed loudly and replied. "No, not really. I was joking... about the last one."

Seto rubbed his temple as his migraine worsened. Blaze has been living in his house for less than a week and he could already feel himself turn thirty years older. How Elektra has managed to live with her all these years, he'll never know.

That was also why he wanted to die alone. He could not handle raising kids. Sure, he can spend a few hours with about three at the most, but having to spend eighteen years raising one is just impossible. He just can't handle the responsibility of raising a child. Crying, feeding, diapers, teaching, bathing, diapers, dressing, walking, diapers, and not only that but he would have to deal with diapers. Mokuba's hard enough to deal with at this point in time. He's just starting his teenage years and a huge turning point in his behavior. He's had to raise his little brother when he's not even fully grown to begin with. One must be twenty-five before your brain has fully matured. That is if he doesn't lose his mind with Blaze and Mokuba running around his house.

"You have a ton of dragons in there," Blaze commented.

"I know," Seto replied, sounding slightly aggitated by her actions.

She cocked her head to its side as she started intintively at his midsection. "Loose a fight with Leatherface?"

"Who?" Mokuba asked.

"The guy off of Texas Chainsaw Masacre," Elektra elaborated.

"Which one?"

"The guy with the chainsaw," she answered.

Mokuba had no idea what the were talking about. Like Seto would actually let his little brother watch Texas Chainsaw Masacre. Quite frankly, he was surprised that Elektra let Blaze watch it. He was even more surprised with someone as innocent as Elektra watched that. Then again, she's probably used to seeing horror and gore. Everyone at the orphanage had a reason for being an orphan, but Seto could never imagine that something that grotesque would happen to a poor little girl. No, poor little _children_. Not to mention all of the people who didn't make it out; who were all probably murdered and/or forced to breed some type of "new species". No wonder Elektra never called the police or CPS. If she got deported, then she would have to go back to that place. That must also be why Elektra and Blaze ran away from the orphanage after he and Mokuba got adopted. Her father was crazy!

"Well, no, Elektra punched him," Mokuba said.

"Mokuba," Seto warned.

"Urm, sorry," he apologized. He quickly changed the subject in fear of the punishment his brother might conjure later. "Hey, Blaze. Wanna go back to the house and play some uhhh..."

"Guitar Hero?" Blaze offered.

"Sure?"

She then abrupty took hold of his arm and nearly tore it off as she sprinted them away from him and Elektra. That girl must really love music or something. "Bye guys!" she called as they got further and further away. "See you at dinner Elektra!"

Elektra waved goodbye as Seto started checking his deck. Not because he thought that Blaze is a theif or anything, but to make sure that she didn't take anything on accident or left anything in there. Nope. Everything was in there. Even his three Blue Eyes White Dragons. He glanced over at Elektra from the corner of his eye. White hair. Blue eyes. Stupid Egyptian fairytales.

"They're cute," she said.

"They're annoying," Seto revised.

She turned around in his direction, even though he was turned away from her. "Hey! That's your own brother."

"Oh, I know. And I love Mokuba to death but he can still be annoying sometimes."

Elektra moved over to a stone bench and laid down on her back. "Guess you feel like that with all kids, huh? So how are you gonna handle your own kids?"

Seto chuckled lightly. "I wasn't built to be a father. Not a good one anyways." He turned to her with his hands in his pants pockets. "What about you? Don't all girls dream of being mothers?"

She smiled with a sullen and pained look in her eyes. "_Most_ girls," Elektra corrected. "_Most_ girls dream of becoming mothers."

"You don't?"

Elektra turned away from him and started gazing up into the clear blue sky. "No, I've always wanted kids. But I don't want to be just a mother. If I have kids, then I wanna be a role model. I wanna show them what women can do so they can be all like 'Hey, our mommy's cool! She taught us to surf and how to kill two birds with one arrow!' I wanna be more than a mother."

"I thought the saying was 'killing two birds with one stone'. Where did the arrow come from?"

"I'm better with a bow than a slingshot."

He laughed quietly. "You're kids are going to be the strangest kids to walk this Earth."

The smile on Elektra's face fell into a straight line as nothing but melancholy despair consumed her face. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply before she placed her hands over her abdomen. "I can't," she muttered, voice cracking and almost inaudible. "I can't have kids."

Seto mentally slapped himself repeatedly. _Nice going you idiot_, he repremanded himself. "I'm sorry... I-... I didn't mean..."

"Seto," she said in a gentle, open tone, "I'm not mad. It's just hard for me to accept that I'm probably never going to hold my little baby in my arms and look down and feel proud of this little breathing thing that I've brought on this Earth." She moved her hands up over her chest. "To look at them and feel blessed that I was able to usher in a whole new and innocent human life and raise it with all of my love and care." Then Elektra turned her head in the opposite direction of him and crossed her arms. "But I can't. When I was born, something went wrong inside of me and the doctor told my mother that I have a 12.5% chance of ever getting pregnant, and an even less of the chance of carrying the baby full-term."

Seto's heart ached for this girl. He didn't know what to say to sound comforting, but he felt compelled to say something. "At least there's a chance."

She turned her head back upwards and nodded with her smile returned. "Yeah. A chance."

He smiled half heartedly as he walked over to her and held his hand out. She eyed him up and down, unsure of what he was doing. "I'm sick of making you sad," he answered. "Now get up and make a sarcastic remark or make fun of celeberties." He then reached over and grabbed her arm and hoisted her on her feet. "Damn you're cold."

"I told you it was chilly." she remarked, her usual self returning.

He grinned, not wanting to say something to upset her more, and took off his black jacket and handed it to Elektra. Though she didn't immediantly take it.

"What?" she asked.

"Take it."

"But it's your jacket."

"Yeah. Now take it."

She reached over relunctently.

"I'm not gonna bite," Seto assured.

"I'm more afraid of your bark," Elektra muttered.

She finally grabbed hold of the collar, stood up, and wrapped the jacket around her. With him being just over six feet tall and her being five foot six, the jacket was way too big for her.

Elektra took several quick sniffs and commented, "If you don't care about attracting women, than why does your jacket smell like Axe body spary?"

The faintest hint of pink flushed on his cheeks. He didn't actually know why he put that on today. He actually had used some of Mokuba's without him knowing, though he didn't quite know where that compulsion came from.

"Umm... Well... shut up."

Elektra giggled as they walked back to mansion. They had just made it over the bridge when Seto felt a strange tingling on his hand. He glanced down and saw Elektra's hand move into his. And he didn't stop her.

* * *

Oh God you take forever to read! D'you how long I've been waiting down here?! Okay, you can't see this, but I grew a beard. A beard! And I'm a girl! That's how long it took!

Not really, I'm just kidding. And, for the future's sake, I suck ass at writing duels. If I'm ever gonna do a really long and serious one, I'm gonna have to get some sweatpants, a gallon of energy drink, and put some Rocky music off of iTunes and try very, very hard to write a moderately sensable duel.

Seriously, I tried to play the game before against this verteran kid at my school and got my ass beat like six times. In my defense (and please don't hate me) that was my first duel. I only have one Yu-Gi-Oh card called Fenir and I only have that because I found it in the school parking lot about five years ago. I still have it. And he was using the new generation ones that I know nothing about. Personally, I'm way more of a fan of the original series than the others.

Aside from my failiure of trying to play the franchise I'm writing a fanfic about, let's talk about Blaze. You just gotta love her. About three or four chapters from now she'll have her moment but for now she's Elektra's goofy little sister and Seto's personified headache.

Also, this chapter has some feels, but that's nothing compared to what I have planned for later on. ... Pretend that you didn't just read that. Anyways, that "rabbit in a stew pot" is a horror movie reference. I forgot what it was called, but that line was very famous when that movie came out.

That's all I got :/ Later!


	10. Return & Adjust

Just so it's clear, the date for this is October 14th. For you megafans out there, you know what happens on the 25th, right? And for now on Elektra and Blaze will perminately live at Kaiba's house... unless they fluck up and get kicked out, which judging by their personalities will be pretty soon. Oh well.

* * *

Strike Down

Ten: Return and Adjust

* * *

It's good to be back.

The alarm clock bitch-slapped me wide awake. I was _trying_ to enjoy my dream of being the girlfriend of a dusty blonde man who looked good shirtless and on white stallions. He didn't have long flowing hair though. I don't like that quality in guys.

"Verdammt," I muttered.

I rolled over and shut that damn thing off. Hey, if you ever wanna drive someone you don't like insane, then lock them in a white windowless room with that alarm blaring. Then again, I'd preffer that hell to the hell awaiting me at school today. I mean, I'm excited to see Tea, Yugi, and everyone, but then there's the teacher who's bound to question me and the bitch girls sure to make fun of my weight loss, even though I've gained weight since two weeks ago when I passed out. Because of them I might add.

I remember eating dinner on the day I woke up. Seto wasn't there because he is super anti-social, though his excuse was that he had work to do on his computer. Psh. Yeah right. Anyways, I got outta bed and lazily got dressed into that stupid uniform. I threw all of my things into my backpack and stepped outta my new room and into the long white hallway. Just down the hall was Seto's room. Sometimes I worry about why he put our rooms so close together.

While most people walk down stairs, I slid down the rail on my way to breakfeast. Seto gets pissed when I do it. He says that he doesn't wanna have his hands on the rail knowing that my butt was on it. C'mon dude. How many times in life is someone able to slide down the rails of the stairs of a real freakin' mansion? Yolo.

Anyways I made my way down to the dining room where I saw Blaze, Seto, Mokuba, and one of their maids named Nako. Nako was a shorter person and really skinny. She wore these big, buggy glasses and had pale blonde hair tied in two braids. Nako was aslo really shy and quiet, and preffered to not make any contact with Seto in fear of his intimidation.

"G'morning Blaze, Mokuba, Nako," I beamed.

Seto blinked his stare from his phone to me.

"And you," I teased.

"Good morning, Miss Elektra," Nako muttered from the table as she sat my breakfeast down.

"C'mon Nako," I said as I sat down beside Blaze, "I told you to just call me Elektra."

She started blushing bright red and her legs started shaking. "Um... I, I don't f-feel so com-comfortable w-w-with that."

I smiled after I took a sip from my chocolate milk. And YES it's perfectly normal for a sixteen-year-old to still drink chocolate milk. "Eh. You'll get used to it after awhile."

Nako bowed to me (some sorta Japanese courtesy or something she picked up from her childhood) and scurried outta the silent dining room, with Blaze not really being a morning person to say the least and Mokuba busy scarfing down food like he was a starving hobo and Seto being himself.

"I'm so tired," Blaze moaned, her plate already empty.

"I'm so sorry," I taunted, "Maybe next time I'll let you almost starve to death."

"Yeah but I don't think that Kaiba would save me," she said, smiling. "He doesn't have a crush on me like he does with you."

Everyone went silent, even Mokuba who had his spoon resting stationary in his mouth, as mine and Seto's eyes met. He looked away as he drank some coffee then replied, "As attractive as your sister is, I have no current intention to start a realationship with her."

Did he just say that I was attractive?

"So why did you save us?" Blaze questioned.

This time, Seto slammed his palm on the table and glared her straight in the eye and yelled, "Look, you're welcome to leave at any point in time and need I remind you that I can just as easily kick you two right back out!"

"Hey! It-"

I gabbed Blaze's shoulder and pushed her right back in her chair. "Blaze! Calm the hell down! Now!"

All the while I could feel Blaze's skin grow hotter with her rage building inside of her. Normally, I let her spit her temper at those she aimed for so she doesn't keep it contained and let it boil into her monster. She kicked her chair under the table after she abrupty rised from her seat, seething with anger. Sometimes Blaze acts like a freaking child.

"Sorry, Blaze is kind of a hot head," I apologized.

"No, she's ignorant and childish," Seto said. "She needs to learn to grow up. Both of you need to learn to grow up."

"What do you mean by that?" I questioned harshly.

A deathly tension befell the table as we stared daggers in both of our sets of blue eyes. Mokuba scooted out of his seat and got up.

"I'll just go see what Blaze is doing," he said as he left us in awkwardness.

Seto waited until Mokuba's foot fall lightened as he went upstairs before he spoke. "You are sixteen now. And I'm not gonna let you mooch off of me for the rest of our lives. Once you're eighteen, you're leaving. So until then you need to staighten up your act and toughen the hell up."

"Excuse me?" I growled. "Do you not really and truly think that I don't take mine and Blaze's lives seriously?"

"You don't freaking seem like it. You always find some sort of humor in every situation. Life isn't some stupid game."

"Says the guy who gets his enjoyment out of humiliating and degrading people with some stupid game," I retorted.

He laughed a little. "I'm just some egotistical heartless jackass to you, aren't I?"

"Sometimes," I muttered, my heart dark with anger. "What am I to you? Some brainless, ignorant, whiney little girl that you feel some sorta urge to pity for and burdened to look after? Am I that meaningless?"

"No, but you're that useless."

Part of my heart cried while the other 90% broiled in malice. He is such a damn freaking sociopathic, narsacistic, cruel douchebag. I got up quietly, leaving half of my plate full, and glared into his sharp cobalt eyes.

"Go to Hell," I stated darkly as I abruptly got up then returned to take the bacon strips I haven't eaten yet, but not before flipping him off.

Jackass.

* * *

(_Switching perspectives again_.)

"Smooth, Boss," a rugged, female voice said from behind him.

Seto didn't have to turn around to see who it was. "Asagi."

Asagi was one of the three maids who work for him with the other two being Nako and Teagan. Asagi and Teagan are much more social than Nako, a dead turtle was more sociable than Nako for that matter, but Asagi was probably the most equivilent to a normal twenty-three year-old woman, or what Kaiba likes to reffer to as "annoying". Asagi had dark brown that appeared black with purple and pink highlights and chesnut brown eyes. Most noticiable about her look was her bright pink lip gloss that did NOT stick out well with her darkly tanned skin.

Asagi sighed and picked up Elektra's plate to clean. "If you want a piece of that ass then you really need to work on your people skills."

Seto nearly choked on his coffee, which burned in his throat until his was able to swallow after a few seconds. "I don't want a 'piece of her ass'!"

Asagi shrugged as she turned the faucet on. "Coulda fooled me. Especially considering that you mumble about her in your sleep."

"Since when have I mumbled about her in my sleep?"

"You remember that time when you feel asleep in your study and I had to wake you up? Well, before I did I could hear you mumbling her name and smiling." She shivered. "You don't understand how weird it is to see you smiling. Y'know, not after you caused someone emotional trauma."

"Ha ha," he said sarcastically. "I have little intrest in Elektra."

"Ah, that time you didn't deny it," Asagi grinned. "Little or not, it's still present ain't it?"

He did not reply. Seto did have a slight attrction to Elektra, but any intimate or sexual arrousement towards her was minoscule or absent all together. But he could never love someone like Elektra. He'd preffer someone quiet and more mature than her. A life with Elektra Redgaurd only foreshadows a future of high blood pressure, anxiety attacks, and hair loss.

"Little or not, I'm never going to date her, let alone have sex with her," Seto finally answered.

"Of course you ain't," Asagi said, turning off the water. "Mr. Seto Kaiba is too prideful and sadistic for anyone to love."

_Rub it in, why don't ya?_ Though he preffered life like this. Alone. Unloved. Forsaken. Wait, why is this good again?

"Right," Seto agreed.

"Wrong!" She proclaimed as she spun back around, making him turn towards her. "You, my souless employer, are as cold as ice. Love is a feeling of warmth given to by another. You can't be thawed out until someone falls inlove with you. The thing is, no one could ever fall inlove with a butthead like you. Except for someone with an immensly pure heart who can see past the ice and into your true being."

"Elektra?"

Asagi nodded. "Elektra."

Seto turned his gaze to his empty cup of coffee. Elektra is immature at times, but she's only human. She has the one thing he envies: kindness. Elektra brightens the dimmest of lights and restores joy to those who have lost in faith. She fills up what is empty inside of him. Maybe she did deserve a little more respect.

"Boss, you need to learn to grow up," Asagi warned as she left.

* * *

(_Back to Elektra_)

_Ding! Ding! Ding!_

Oh shit! I'm already late on my first day back! Legs don't fail me now. I was halfway up the stairs and I just cut and ran all the way to Mr. Tokomuro's room. As I saw the doorway, that stupid freaking ginger girl started to shut the door when she saw me.

"Don't you dare!" I yelled as I fell to the ground and slid into the classroom full-speed like a baseball player. I slid in just in time. "Yaaaaaaayyyyy-Nooooooooooo!" I yelled, happy at first until my body went past the podium and into the closet and into a pile of junk. The thing about the shoes in this school is that the soles have absolutely no traction. Thanks school.

"Alrighty class!" Mr. Tokomuro announced as he closed the closet door, locking me in. "Let's get to work!"

"Um, Sir?" I heard Yugi say as I made my way to the door. "You locked someone in there."

"Hm? Really?" He asked.

I grinned as a memory crossed my mind. I knocked on the door three times. Knock-knock-knock. "Teacher!" Knock-knock-knock. "Teacher!" Knock-knock-knock. "Teacher!"

He walked over and looked at me through the mirror. "Elektra?"

"Let me out sonpai," I begged.

He opened up the door, freeing me. "I'm ba-aaack," I remarked making the class laugh.

Mr. Tokomuro smiled. "You have an excuse I presume?"

"Oh! Sure!" I reached into my backpack and pulled out the sheet of paper Seto printed out for me. He got Dr. Adreck, the doctor who took care of me, to write me a fake excuse. It says that I had to get my apendix removed and that I spent the last two weeks recovering.

"Oh, apendix, huh?" He remarked as her put the note in his shirt pocket.

"Yup," I lied. "Oh and I'll give you my make-up work after class."

"Alright! Take your seat."

I walked over to my old seat next to Joey with him, Yugi, Tristan, and Tea eyeing me down. I pulled the navy blue chair out and took a seat.

"Nice to have ya back, Ella," Joey said warmly.

"Hey," I answered shyly. It's good to be back.

At lunch that day, my hell came true. I was utterly bombarded with questions. _Where were you? What happened? How're you feeiling? How's your apendix? Are you gonna be okay?_ For the love of Chrystler all that matters is that I'm alive! Why do you people want the details?

I groaned and rubbed my temples. "Ugh. Calm down and I'll explain what happened."

Everyone, Tea, Bakura, Yugi, Joey, and Tristan, stopped talking as I took a sip from my water before I continued.

"I blacked-out, alright?" I answered. "On Friday, I blacked-out from starvation."

"Woah," Joey said. "I knew dat you was feelin' bad, but I didn't know it was _dat_ bad."

"Yeah, that was really irresponsible Elektra," Yugi commented.

"Ugh, I know!" I complained, "I was just looking out for my little sister. I'd rather be the one to suffer than Blaze."

Tea got a furious look in her eyes and stood up abrassively. "That's it! Elektra, I don't care what you say, but tonight you and Blaze are comming to my house until we graduate and you can keep your job!"

"No, but-" I tried to protest.

"Elektra, you really need to listen to Tea this time!" Tristan said. "We're your friends and we're not gonna just sit by while you waste away to nothing!"

"But guys, seriously-"

"But nothin'!" Joey proclaimed. "I'll make ya go to Tea's house if I have to! I ain't a friend if I don't look out fah you and Blaze!"

And you guys won't stay quiet for ten seconds for me to explain that I'm living with Seto now. I understand that they're my friends and they love me but I'm fine now. Really.

The lunch bell rang and we all got up to leave. The school day went by without me speaking to either one of my friends. Guess they'll find out sooner or later. After a few hours the next bell rang for us to leave and go home. Ha ha. Home. I guess that means that my home is with Seto now. Maybe he's not a _complete_ jackass.

As I walked through the front doors that Joey held open for me I caught the sight of that one special limousine for me, and the tall lingering figure leaning on it wearing a white trenchcoat and black jeans. I picked up the pace, anxious to talk to him, though I didn't know how to say what I wanted to say. Or how to even start.

He picked his head up from his phone and straightened himself in my presence. "I figured that Mokuba would come first," he said.

"Sorry to disappoint you," I muttered as I tried to pass by him and into the vehicle.

"Hey," he snapped as he caught me around the waist with one arm. I sighed loudly as my friends walked in behind me.

"What?" I asked.

Seto bit his lip as he stared into the crowd of people including two of his rivals. I waited for as long as my patience could allow before I tried to walk by him again. Only this time, he grabbed my shoulder and I turned around angrily. "If you have something to say-"

"I'm sorry," he interupted.

Say what now? Seto was _apologizing_? Since when did that become possible?

"For what I said to you this morning," Seto continued. "You are a great person just the way you are and it was wrong of me to degrade you like you were an object."

I grinned as I looked at his face which begged for my reply. By about this time, Yugi and everybody were frozen in shock. "You're still a jackass," I said, "But you're not _too_ bad."

He smiled in relief as Blaze and Mokuba came running towards us. They greeted us then they turned back around to my paralyzed friends.

"What just-?" Mokuba was about to ask before his brother cut him off.

"Don't worry about it."

They slowly got in the limo, still unsure of what was going on. I turned back around to them and said, "I'm kinda living with him now."

Tea grinned shakily and answered, "Oh, well, that's okay! I guess..."

Joey shook free of his daze and stated, "Hey Kaiba, since we're on the topic of forgiving people you've degraded-"

"Not on your life," Seto said. He turned to me. "Get in the damn limousine."

"You cussed!" Mokuba called from inside.

He rolled his eyes. "Dammit."

We stepped inside and left my friends gawking at the turn of events. Life is good to me sometimes. For now, at least.

* * *

Alright, that's it. I'm putting another flashback in here. Either next chapter or the chapter after that I'm writing another gory flashback. Be ready.

Yes, that was a Big Bang Theory reference with the closet thing.

Also, some certain people are comming not too far from now, along with a heartbreaker, some familiar characters, and a not-so-happy birthday. Later!


	11. Sneezing

What follows is a true story based on the experiences I had about a month ago. I sneezed in class, and you'll see what happened as the chapter unfolds. But everything aside from sneezing did not happen to me.

* * *

Strike Down

Eleven: Sneezing

* * *

ACHOO!

"What do you mean 'no'?" Seto demanded.

Yugi switched his attitude from neutral down on Kaiba's level; which is pretty low. But still, how did that freaky-haired idiot not get that one job done? It wasn't something incredibly hard for the "King of Games" to do.

"I'm _not_ entering in one of your tournaments so I can duel everyone until I get a Blue-Eyes for you!" Yugi protested. "If you wanna have some _Battle City 2_, then you can beat it yourself!"

"I know I can," Seto replied, "I just need some more publicity to get every duelist in the world to participate so I have the greastest chances, and you just happen to bring trouble with you whenever some giant tournament starts."

Yugi sighed. "I don't need to worry about Pegasus anymore, the Rare Hunters disbanded, and there aren't anymore monsters running rapid on the streets trying to kill each other! Who is left to threaten me?!"

"Me if you don't enter into the tournament," Seto growled.

"Ugh, good Lord, Kaiba," Yugi moaned. "I can't believe that you're still obsessed with that card when you have the living thing."

Seto's eyes became less harsh out of vague amusement. "What do you mean?"

"Kisara," Yugi answered. "The girl who died for your incarnate and became the dragon. She lives in Elektra somehow, I can sense it."

He exploded in laughter. "Ah, Yugi Moto, still consumed in our retarded Egyptian fairytales, are we?"

"Hey! That's offensive to call things retarded!"

"Psh. The hell should I care?"

Yugi shook his head. "Ugh, you're such a prick."

"And what makes you think that some five thousand-year-old dead spirit lives in Elektra anyways?"

Yugi rolled his eyes as he pointed to his hair, "White hair," then he pointed to his eyes, "Blue eyes," he gestured to his entire body, "Female."

"So?"

He facepalmed. "For the love a- She is like the spitting image of Kisara! And she's like the one girl in the world who cares about you and is not deeply disturbed or a nymphomaniac!"

Seto started thinking about her. Elektra was the only girl he's ever really cared about, she has the same appearence, she- No. It's just some stupid fantasy.

"Elektra doesn't even know about what happened last year," Seto spoke, "She doesn't even know how to play Duel Monsters. And whatever happened to my incarnate, if he ever existed at all, has no realation to me now."

Yugi sighed again. "Whatever. Don't believe me. But I'm not entering one of your tournaments for your own benefit. You'll get the Blue Eyes White Dragon only if you truly deserve it."

He went on his way to school, leaving Seto alone infront of Kame Game. Well, that's all of his ideas. After almost a month of searching, bribing, and blackmail has left him Blue Eyes White Dragon-less. Asking Yugi for that favor was quite a stretch, but Seto was getting desperate. He needed that card. He didn't know why, he never knew why, but he _needs_ that card.

"Dammit."

* * *

(_Elektra's POV_)

What's twelve times six divided by three time square root of the sum of thirteen, two divided by two, and eleven? One hundred and twenty? That's what I thought. I wrote the answer down and finally finished my quiz.

That was quick. I looked out across the silent classroom and saw everyone either halfway through it or struggling past the first page. I'm usually the first one done anyways. Ugh, great. I looked over to the seat next to me to see Joey playing on his phone with only his name written on is test. In blue crayon, I might add.

I grunted lightly as I stood up and went to turn my test in to Mr. Tokomuro. Everyone had their eyes on me as I handed in the packet. Jeez, I'm turning in a test not getting married.

"Done already?" the teacher asked.

I nodded and returned to my seat. When I sat down, Joey glanced up at me from his phone, grunted, and started his test. Am I that inspirational? _No, you're just concieted enough to think that,_ my conscious said. I told it to shut up as I pulled out one of my composition and started to draw. That was when I smelled it. The wretched stench of some damn floral perfume strong enough to get an elephant high. Good God, why do girls do this during class? Do they expect a smoking hot moody glitsening werewolf and vampire hybrid to just burst through the window and sweep you away and make love to you in the woods? 'Cause that's never going to happen. And if it did, the baby one would concieve from that would be hecka ugly.

My eyes started watering and my nose started to feel runny. "Verdammt," I swore quietly.

Joey turned at my remark and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," I whispered, "I'm just allergic to that perfume."

He smirked and continued doing his test. But that damn purfume putrified my nose as my eyes started to water and my nose started to run. Then I could feel it; the begining. I could feel it emenating deep in my throat and gradually make its way up. I started twitching my nose like a bunny in a desperate attempt to hold the outburst inside. But I couldn't.

"ACHOO!"

You see, I don't sneeze like all gracefully and quiet. My sneezes are more like an elephant's in comparison. Everybody was startled to say the least. Right when I sneezed, Joey nearly fell out his seat and accidentally ran his crayon over the test. Everyone else starred at me wide-eyed in bewilderment.

I sniffled a little then said, "Excuse me."

Joey, Tea, Yugi, Tristan, and everyone laughed at me uncontrolably. Which I didn't mind. Gotta laugh at yourself sometimes, right? Well, that's my life in a nut shell. Not everyone can laugh, however.

"That's nasty," the obese girl said from across the room. Everyone in her possi (about half the class) laughed for her and at me. Which I didn't like.

"I'm sorry that I'm only human," I apologized sarcastically.

All laughter stopped. "Yeah, but that doesn't excuse you," the ginger said. "Did you even cover your mouth?"

I shrugged. "I dunno? Do you know?"

"That is nasty," she sneered. Bitch.

"Yeah do you have any idea how far that sneeze spreads?" Another blonde friend of theirs asked, like she knows everything.

"I'm not even sick," I protested, "It's my alergies. I'm alergic to that f- _stupid_ perfume in here." I don't want the teacher to hear me cuss.

"That doesn't matter," The dark-haired girl spoke. "It's still nasty. You're nasty."

Joey was about to say something but I stopped him. "So, just because I sneezed that just makes me the nastiest person ever?"

"No, what's gross is that you didn't cover your mouth!" Another one of their friends said in disgust.

"Yes," I said, maintaining my cool and using my vanity accent, "I am oh so very nasty. This one time, like two or three years ago, I sneezed and, like, this disease, like, spread and, like, everyone called it Swine Flu. I am super cereal!"

"No!" One of the girls protested. "You're-!"

"No no! I understand," I interupted in a sarcastic tone. "My sneezes caused a whole bunch of diseases! Let's see... There was the Black Plague, polio, cholera, malaria, necrophilia, crabs, and one time it killed a hobo."

Then everyone on my side began to snicker and laugh.

"No I'm serious," I continued, shaking my head in false disapproval of myself, "Like, he wasn't even in the same area as me. I just sneezed and that poor old hobo died in Kansas all alone." I wiped away my dry tears. "And no one knew execpt for me."

My little statement caused them to rant on and on with neverending insults towards me, not like I cared. The thing was, I said nothing after that, and they ranted on for twenty minutes. Who wants to continously argue about sneezing for _twenty minutes_? I don't remember exactly what they said, but they eventually ended up in inuslting themselves. Ha ha. Idiots. The teacher eventually intervined and his aid only made them insult themselves more. Of course me, Joey, and everybody were beside ourselves making fun of their stupidity. I was the only one to finish that test that day.

* * *

(_Seto's POV_)

Without Elektra, life seemed unusually quiet, even though it was basically the life he had before she started living with him. She would only be at school for a little less than an hour more than usual, but Seto couldn't help but feel impatient. He sat in the living room on his black leather couch with his computer in his lap doing important buisness stuff. Every now and again Seto would look over to the door expecting a young white-haired girl to burst in and say something charmingly ignorant like: "Hey homies I'm home!"

The thought of that made Seto grin slightly. For the first time in years, he felt... at peace. Even though the girl was loud and spontanious and should have came with a bottle of heart attack pills, her love and kindness lightened his spirit. Maybe having a girlfriend wouldn't be _that _bad...

"Shut up," he muttered to himself. He knew that Elektra didn't deserve a life in the eye of fame. She wouldn't survive long in his shoes, walking beside him or otherwise. Elektra was too important to him for him to let the curse of popularity consume her. If he ever did marry, his wife would be someone he felt comfortable with losing- a piece of trash to throw away if needed. Someone he could divorice with and end up having to pay child support for how ever many kids they have, or possibly be murdered by. He chuckled a little bit to himself. _I'm pretty sure that's not what they thought what marrige was supossed to be when they invented it, is it?_

A bunch of bar graphs and new duel disk designs covered up his screen, but didn't manage to cover what you use to open a new tab. He sighed lightly in disbelief of what he was about to do. He opened a new tab and searched "_Elektra Redgaurd"_. The internet must have something on her. But after he skimmed through several interent pages of completely irrelevent things in comparison to her. He sighed slightly louder in silent fear of what he was going to do next.

The mouse moved over the words as Seto murmered, "I swear to God, Google Images, if I see one dirty picture on here I'm suing the hell outta you."

He clicked and three little words appeared: "No Images Available". Good. Nothing regretable. Next he typed in his own name. He had no reason other than some craving for dull amusement. Immediantly the screen filled with millions of images of himself. Most of them photography with a little bit of fanart including chibis. It was strange to see that anyone could think of him as being a short, chubby ball with big eyes.

Then he glanced up at the related searches: Seto Kaiba and Mokuba Kaiba, Seto Kaiba and the Blue Eyes White Dragon, Seto Kaiba Smiling (yeah, like that was gonna happen), and... wait what? Seto Kaiba and Yugi Moto? Did someone take pictures of one of their duels or something? He did something he would soon regret as he clicked it. Before him thousands of pictures appeared that did not have anything to do with dueling. He was taken aback, trying to maintain his shock and utter disgust so that neither the maids, Mokuba, or Blaze would become worried and come to check on him only to see what he had Googled.

"Goddammit Google Images," Seto cursed as he quickly exited out of that tab.

Click.

History.

Clear History.

Done. It never happened.

About that time, he heard someone open the doors as a familiar voice chimed, "Hey homies I'm home!"

"Took you long enough," Seto replied, pretending that he didn't care that she was home and that he was content as a result.

Elektra plopped down beside him, dropping her backpack on the floor, clearly tired. "Uggghhh. I'm so bored."

"Yeah well, try staring at a computer screen all day or sitting in a room full of people you don't like listening to stuff you don't care about."

"I do," Elektra answered, "It's called computer class."

He smirked at her response. "Basically, yes, they are similar when you put it that way."

"Well," she said gaining some amount of perkiness, "I heard from a little birdie that your birthday's on the twentyfifth."

"What 'little birdie'?"

"A little birdie with black feathers and lavander eyes."

He groaned. "If he wasn't my brother..."

Elektra pushed his shoulder. "Hey! He just wanted some advice on what to get you for _your_ birthday which _I_ didn't know about."

"_I _didn't want _you_ to know about it," he said, "I haven't celebrated my birthday in what will soon be eleven years, and I don't plan to anytime soon."

"I have never celebrated my birthday Mr. Killjoy. I've never even had a real birthday cake. But that never stopped me from giving presents to other people."

He chuckled at her remark. "Of course you would waste money on things for people you hardly know."

She stood up abrassively with her hands on her hips and protested, "FYI, I only give to those who _deserve_ anything at all. Those people just so happen to be people I care about. You're one of those people."

Wow. He really is a jackass. "I-I am?"

Her mood lightened a bit. "Don't think so highly of yourself. You're on the same level as Joey."

"Oh, and _I'm_ the mean one."

Elektra smiled as she sat back down. "Well, what would you want?"

Easy question to answer. "That Blue Eyes White Dragon card."

A ghostly look consumed Elektra's face. Her skin became as pale as her hair and her eyes widened as an eerie silence enveloped her. An emptiness very alien to her usual outgoing self was all that came from her now. But as suddenly as that emotion appeared, it vanished as she regained her average personality.

She giggled. "I don't think I could manage that, Seto."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Sorry, I was just kidding. Um, I really don't care what you get me."

"So... It's okay if I get you a bag of flaming dog shit?"

"Ah, no."

She smiled and leaned on his side, which he allowed just this once. "Well, I'm all outta ideas."

"Elektra, as creative as you are, I'm sure that you will think of something."

* * *

They're cute, aren't they? But maybe it's all for naught. I mean, Seto's suppossed to fall inlove with Kisara. I've said this before and I mean it: Elektra isn't Kisara. Should the story really play out this way? Of course, I'm the only one who knows how this story is gonna end.

Anyways, that entire sneezing episode really happened to me. Every bit of dialogue was actually said word per word, though of course it was me saying Elektra's lines and other people saying the other characters' dialogue.

This chapter may seem trivial, but all of my chapters are important and all will be clear in the end. Also, I wrote this chapter so you all could see into my life outside of the internet. If you didn't like it, don't worry because I'm probably not putting anything about myself on here for a long long time. Later guys!


	12. Happy Birthday

Ready for this? What is it? I'm not telling you. You'll hafta find out for yourself. That's all. I'm not gonna bug you that much for now.

* * *

Strike Down

Twelve: Happy Birthday

* * *

He didn't look too happy.

"Gaaaahhhh," I moaned, wide awake in bed.

I pulled the pillow over my face in self-annoyance. But what was I suppossed to do? Seto's birthday was tomorrow and I haven't come up with diddly-squat. "_I really don't care what you get me_". Yeah, right. Seto needs to work on his skills with women. You can't just sat those things, especially to me, a girl who cares about you in a way she can't express verbally yet so she wants to use a possessional object to do so. Then again, I need to work on my skills with men.

I tossed around and stared at the clock which read 2:12 pm. Urg. Great. It was Thurday, already his birthday, and I had to get to school in the morning. Who am I kidding? Like he's expecting anything from me. I'm sure that Mokuba got him something beyond meaningful having something to do with their personal history which I have no business in knowing. Blaze isn't getting anything regaurdless. She and Seto are kinda at odds. They kinda hate each other because she really annoys him beyond any human comprehension of the level of patience one must go to in order to be broken by another. That problem will be fixed later... I hope.

But here I am, alone, and fretting over some dopey stupid present to get the guy who doesn't even like me. God, whatever went wrong that day?

* * *

"Blaze?" I called. I couldn't find that little punk anywhere. Not the sandbox, not the monkeybars, nowhere. She needs to stop running off like this. God knows what'll happen to her if I'm not around.

"Blaze! Where are you?!" I yelled. No answer. I didn't even see any other kids. The playground was completely vacant. The wind blew, tossing my hair in my face which was now almost as long at half my back. In the wind, I could hear the faint sound of her voice.

Hurridly, I ran towards the source of the noise. All I could see were kids of every age crowded around a certain group of younger kids yelling at each other. As I got closer to the inner circle, Blaze wasn't the only voice I recognized.

"What did you just call my brother?!" Seto demanded, his voice still squeaky due to a lack of puberty.

"_Brother_? That little runt ain't a boy with hair like that, Buds," Blaze protested.

When I finally cut through the crowd, I saw Blaze and Seto face to face with a long, dark haired boy sobbing behind Seto. _Oh no_. Then I saw him punch Blaze right in the face, causing her to fall to the ground. That was it. His one action tore apart our "everlasting friendship".

I grabbed a clump of dirt in my hands and threw it right in his face and screamed, "Don't you dare punch my sister you stupid asshole!" That was the first time I cursed. Ever.

Then rushed up to him and punched him square in the nose, knocking him off balance, and kicked him in a particular that shall not be described, then finally I put him in a headlock. Throught the minute I had him pinned, Seto elbowed me in the jaw, making my bite into my tongue with enough force to make it bleed.

"You-" elbow in the face, "-are-" elbow in the face, "-such-" elbow in the face, "-a-" elbow in the face, "-DICK!" I screamed.

After a minute an aide finally broke us apart and took me staight inside, spanked me, and made me sit in a corner all day. That was that. Our friendship was over.

That night, when it was passed time for us to be asleep, I was out wondering the halls restlessly engaged in my own pity. I just wrecked a perfectly good friendship with someone I really cared about. I was near tears when I heard the footfall of someone. Fearful that it was an aide, I spun around to see Seto rubbing his tired eyes.

"Elektra?" he murmered still half asleep.

My eyes began to water. I couldn't face him. I couldn't speak. He'd never forgive me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sounding a little more conscious.

"I-I'm s-sorry," I sobbed as I ran away back towards the girls' side of the orphanage.

"Elektra! Wait!"

* * *

"Oh, riiiight," I said to myself in remembrance. After that night, Seto and I never spoke until recently. Did he ever go back to that day? Does he only see me as the girl I was that day? An obese sense rumbled in my gut. I've never had guilt like this. Imagine slapping a newborn puppy in the face and leaving on the street to starve, and then seeing it about six years later in your house. That's how I feel. Not too pretty to think of, is it?

I rolled over to the open side of my bed where my duffel bag lay near my nightstand. Seto knows that I keep my gun in there (he doesn't care so long that I keep it away from Mokuba), but he doesn't know about most of the other things I have in there. Everything in that safe in our old apartment was in there. Even the picture I kept in the far end of the safe before I had to move. It was very special to me. It was my family portrait.

I solemly reached over, zipped a pocket open, and pulled the photograph and rolled over on my back holding it up. Mother was to the left of the picture. She and I have the same hair, but her eyes were fuschia/lavender in color compared to my crystal blue eyes. She wore a beautiful white laced gown with blue and violet trimming and had her hair loosely tied in the back letting her curls show. Father stood to the side opposite of her wearing a light blue button-up shirt tucked into his dark beige pants and wearing a dark brown trench coat. In this picture Father had a thin beard on his chin reaching to his sideburns, but just light enough to not make him look past twenty-nine. I sat in the middle, smiling brightly with my teeth as white as my hair. That picture was taken in the happier portion of my childhood so that smile was actually a real one. I was wearing a modest, old fashioned dress with light blue and navy blue satin silk shirt and decorations. I used to be so cute. What happened?

* * *

It was dark out, and a storm was brewing in the night. The sense of the oncomming storm gave me a sense of comfort, but it wasn't enough. I've been hearing people howling all night, and I was becoming worried. What if they were monsters? What if they were hiding in the shadows waiting for me to walk by and eat me? I snuggled deeper into my bed while clentching onto Tagesanbruch, my favorite stuffed bear doll. Oh, Father, where are you?

I heard some light footsteps somewhere far down the hall. It was too light to be Father's, yet too heavy and long stided to be Mother's, and it was too agile and steady to be Horace's. My curiosity got the better of me and I slowly crept out of bed, Tagesanbruch cradled under my left arm. A quick glance around the corridor showed no sign of a living creature. Only a lonely hallway. I peeked around the corner one last time before finally stepping away from the wall that hid me.

I walked all the way down the hall and back, taking slow and paced steps in order not to arouse suspiscion from Horace or my parents. Now that I had a sense of sancturary knowing that I'm alone on this floor tonight, I started to make my way back to my room when I saw something crawling at my feet. It was fairly large with eight hairy legs and six beady eyes. I bent down and gingerly scooped the spider in my right palm, careful not to startle it and make it bite me, opened one of the windows and placed it outside on the stone wall. I watched intintively as it scurried down and only looked away once it was out of my sight. I smiled and turned back around only to be startled by a towering, dark figure.

We both jumped at the other's reaction. After a few seconds, I realized that it was Twyla and Terrance's father, Mr. Augustus Caster. Mr. Caster was a tall, thin man with fuschia-almost violet-hair and green eyes. I didn't really see him much because he was a prisoner in the dungeon and only saw him whenever I go play with his children. Back then, I didn't know why he was escaping. Why would he want to leave his kids? Didn't he like it here?

"You-you're that girl who plays with my kids," Mr. Caster stuttered anxiously.

I nodded, still uneased by the situation. "Aren't you Mr. Caster? Where?- Why?- What are you doing here?"

He shook his head rapidly. "No time. I must leave."

He turned to start to run away, but, for some reason, he paused. Something went through his mind. Whether it be that he wanted to save me or use me as a hostage, Mr. Caster turned back around and abducted me.

"Hey!" I shouted, scared and confused, "Let me go!"

"Shh!" Mr. Caster commanded. "Shut up if you know what's good for you!"

I can't say that I have never been more scared, because I have (later on), but I've been more frightened that most people will ever be. "Father! Mother! Help! Help!"

"Be quiet!" Mr. Caster hissed as we found ourselves almost to the front door.

"MOTHER! FATHER! HELP ME!"

Mr. Caster turned around to make sure that no one was following, then, when he turned back around, his face met the buisness end of the axe my father had swung. I felt his arms go limp as I fell to the ground. I scooted myself away from them with my heart racing when I found myself in the arms of a woman. She spun me around and held me tight to her body with my face pressed against her bossom.

"Oh, Elektra!" Mother cried. "Thank God you're okay!"

I pulled away from her. "M-Mother... Mr. Caster..."

She held me in a way that averted my eyes from Father and Mr. Caster. "Don't look, sweetie. Don't look. You're asleep. This is all a dream. It's all a bad dream."

I wanted to cry, but my mind wasn't in situ out of the shock of recent events. My eyes widened as I heard my father swing his axe another six times, each time hearing the _ping_ of metal and the breaking of bones, possibly Mr. Caster's skull.

"Dreams come true, Mother," I said darkly.

* * *

I grimaced in remebrance of those times and put the picture back in its hiding spot and returned to my thoughts. There was only one thing Seto would ever want; only one thing that he could ever use that I could give him. I was never gonna use it, I was never gonna need it, so wouldn't it just be better if I gave it up to him? I reached back over and took it out and held it close to me. This was a part of me, I felt, and I didn't want to give it away. But a part of me was compelled to let Seto keep this for it has been his all along. I sighed loudly.

Okay. This'll do.

* * *

After school and after the limousine driver picked us up and took us home, I was beside myself, uneasy for what I was about to do. I sat alone in the garden outside under one of the gazibos leaning onto a rail. I've never been so nervous and unsure. While I was consumed in my own worry, I didn't hear Mokuba walk up behind me.

"You okay Ella?" he asked, gaining my attention. "Dinner's about to start and Seto's on his way home. He really wants to see you, ya know?"

What? I turned back around, confused, and asked, "What does Seto wanna see me for?"

He manufactured a sly smile. "Oh, you know. Because he... _likes_ you."

I smirked a look of mischief. "Oh really? What if I told Seto about what you were saying right now?"

He raised his hands up as a sign of non-violence and backed away. "Hey, I'm just telling you the truth. He's been acting... _weird_ lately and you're the reason."

"How am I the reason?"

"Seto's rich, popular, and powerful. And with all that he still acts mean to people. The only thing he has never had in his life was a girlfriend. Now he's becoming _nice_." He starting wagging his finger at me. "Now either he has started falling madly inlove with you, or you're the female version of Jesus."

I opened my arms up perpendicular to my body and said in a melodious tone, "Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh Lord."

"Exactly."

Mokuba shook his head in disapproval as he walked away, leaving me be. My stomache rumbled, telling me that it was time for me to retreat back inside and eat. But there was something I had to do first.

I walked back inside the mansion and made my way up the staircase and down the hall to the far left. Down that hall were five doors: Two for my room and my bathroom, and three for Seto's room, study, and bathroom. His room was at the very end of the hall, and the two doors closest to his room were his study and his bathroom. And the two on the left side next to his study were my room and bathroom. Seriously, why the hell are our rooms so close together?

Anyways, I walked over to the door leading to his study and turned the knob ever so slowly. "_I don't want you going into my study when I'm not in there."_ His words continuously echoed in my head. You see, a few days before I went back to school, I was looking for Seto so I went into his study. After I had only taken two steps inside, he came up behind me. He didn't look to happy. Even though I was pissed at him for being pissed about me looking for him, he made me promise him to never come back in this room. Seto Kaiba is like Jaws; if you step in his waters, you just basically killed yourself. And I feel just fine standing on terra firma.

So I took a deep breath and stepped in. Pause. One, two, three... I'm still alive. So far, so good. I walked ever so much closer inside the room. Huh. So this is what it looks like in here. It was a modest study room with a single oak desk with a black laptop recharging on top of it. To the right I good see a liquor cabinet, which made no sense because Seto was now only nineteen and couldn't even legally purchase alcohol. Then again, he is Seto Kaiba. God knows what he can get away with. Still, I can't relly picture him drunk. No wait... yeah I can and that is very dark and I am now ashamed of myself. By about this time while I was busy in my own psyche, I found myself finally at his desk with my gift carefully wrapped in navy blue paper and tied with a silver ribbon bow. I moved around his desk and opened up a drawer on the opposite side. Empty. Good. I placed the present inside but left the drawer slightly ajar so that he can notice it somehow.

I sighed in huge relief as I started making my way back when I heard footsteps on the outside. Heavy footsteps. Shit. I panicked and ran back to the desk and hid under the carved out area for leg room. I squeezed as deep into the hole as possible, careful to not make a sound or let out quick rhaspy breaths like the idiots in horror movies. Those crying and panicking die first. The door opened and I heard the heavy footfall get ever so closer to me. I looked to my left, where the opening was, and saw his sleek, black shoes stationary as he sighed heavily and pulled his chair out. My eyes went wide and felt the sweat trickle down my face as his feet was literlly an inch away from me.

Oh shit.

* * *

(Seto's perspective)

Fatigue should be familiar to him now, but that doesn't stop it from comming. A company like KaibaCorp doesn't just run itself. He sighed loudly and sat down at his desk and opened up his laptop. What really sucked was that work didn't end when he got home. Most of the stuff he does involves using his laptop anyways. He groaned and opened up his laptop and logged onto his email to filter through all the spam from the companies he didn't care about.

"Ugh, fun fun," Seto muttered as he kicked his foot in displeasure.

But he didn't hit the hardwood desk, he hit something soft and squishy. His eyes furrowed as he kicked his foot again, feeling the same squishy object under his desk. Seto then took his foot and pressed into the object while gradually adding more and more pressure until he was sure that the object wasn't alive. If it was, it would have let out some sort of sound of pain by now. Figuring that whatever it was was inanimate, Seto peeked under his desk to see a teenage girl with white hair and shining blue eyes in a Domino High uniform hiding there.

"Hey...," Elektra said, blushing.

"Get out now," Seto commanded sternly.

He backed away as Elektra crawled out.

"Do you have any idea how wrong that looked just now?" Seto questioned.

"You're the one who kept kicking my boob you perv," Elektra retorted.

Not even he could stop that blush from comming. "Ummmm... Sorry. I didn't... You were... Sorry..." Normally, he would have repremanded her, but right now he was too bashful to do so.

Elektra teetered stationary as an awkward silence befell them.

"What were you doing under there anyways?" Seto questioned, regaining his usual composure.

This time, Elektra's composure faultered. but he could only tell this by the way her eyes were big and how she started to sweat, becuase her speech was very calm and fluid. "Um, I was playing hide-and-seek with Mokuba and Blaze." Her demeaner changed from nervouse to pissed. "Do you have any idea how _long_ I was down there?! God, they are horrible at this game, and Mokuba even lives here!"

"Maybe they forgot," Seto mentioned.

"Y'know what? They probably did," She stated. "When I get my hands on them, I'm gonna string them up by their underwear until they become the world's most painfull g-strings."

She left the room in a huff, leaving Seto alone again. _She is so childish_ he thought, only this time thinking it in a nicer way. He sat back down in his chair and was about to check company stocks when he noticed something. One of his drawers was open.

"What were you getting into this time Elektra?" he muttered in annoyance as he pulled the drawer open. Inside he found a small box wrapped in dark blue paper with a sliver-white ribbon. _Oh. A present_. He had already gotten a present from Mokuba today. It was small, but Seto appreciated it. Mokuba had given him back his locket he kept around his neck. Normally, the locket only contained a picture of Mokuba. But today, for his birthday, Mokuba borrowed the necklace and inserted a picture of Elektra in it.

"I know she means a lot to you," Mokuba had said. "Though, I know you'll never admitt it. And plus, her and Blaze are a part of our family now. So I just thought that you'd like to keep her close."

Seto opened up his locket to the picture of Elektra, beside the one he already had of his little brother. The picture was taken last week and has been on Mokuba's phone since then. He just printed it off after he resized it. It was nice to have her close.

The blue box lay in his hands, begging to be unwrapped. He undid the bow and unwrapped the box properly. Underneath the paper, all that remained a simple black box. He opened it and inside that was a card. It read "Happy Birthday!" in bright, sharp black text and had a Blue Eyes White Dragon boldly ind vividly drawn on the cover. _Did she draw this?_ Seto thought, slightly amazed. If she did, then she was _very_ good. He opened up the card and read what it said.

"_Happy Birthday! Yeah, you're not the best person to get along with, but on a scale of one to ten, you're maybe a six at best :P But, you're still human so I am obligated to celebrate this day with you. It's hard to get someone a birthday present when they have everything, so I got you this. And no smart-ass, it's not just the card. I've had this in my possession for a long time (an please don't get mad at me later for this), but I'm never gonna really use it nor could I ever use it correctly. I hope that you understand this properly: this gift can only be handled by someone I would trust with myself, because I veiw this item as being a part of myself. And I trust you more than I trust pretty much more than anybody. Sure, you're not the nicest person in the world, but you're honest and strong and devoted. And I can respect that :) So, anyways, enjoy your present._

_-Elektra_

_PS: It's behind this card"_

That was really the first time anyone had ever complimented Seto on being anything other than smart, tenacious, and handsome. Other than Mokuba and his deceased parents, Seto hasn't had anybody care for him that much either. He quietly placed the card back in the drawer and looked at the bottom of the box which contained-

"Oh my God," Seto said outloud. He dropped the box to the floor but kept the true present in his hand. "It's... It's the Blue Eyes White Dragon."

Seto couldn't believe it. All this time and it was Elektra who had his Blue Eyes. But wait... was it really his? An unfamiliar sense of guilt rushed into Seto as his excitement faded. He's only used money and blackmail to get the Blue Eyes White Dragons he has now and while trying to find this one. Elektra _gave_ this to him outta the kindness of her heart. She thought him to be worthy of something this valuable to her.

He plopped back down in his chair, ashamed of himself, and held the source of his grief in his hands. It did somewhat look like her.

"Why am I falling in love with you?" Seto asked her, even though she wasn't in the room.

* * *

Yep. Elektra gave up her monster for Seto's affection. Which is more than most would do for each other. What would you guys do for someone you truly love?

Next Chapter: Blaze's time to shine.

Later!


	13. Blaze's Interlude: Gryphon

The following is an interlude. This is going to happen every now and again, and it will be used to attract more attention to the other characters and take away from Seto and Elektra a little. This chapter, and for the next few chapters, will focus mainly on Blaze and Mokuba. They need some clarification, so this is my chapter to them.

* * *

Strike Down

Thirteen, Blaze's Interlude: Gryphon

* * *

While I am veiwed to be the embodiment of purity, my sister is the embodiment of hatred, anger, evil, and sin. Her will is to that of her own. She is consumed by wrath and violence, and she promotes fear. The thing is, the world is balanced with light and shadows. Darkness is needed for there to be light. Without fear, we would have no reason. Without violence, we would not know peace. Without hatred, we would not be able to forgive and heal. And my sister is not evil. She is a savior. She keeps the fire of all evil within her, to save everyone else from the demons. More than containing all sin, she sovreigns desire, rebirth, and respect; the characteristics of fire. Blaze Kristoff is more than destruction. She is hope.

* * *

"Huh?" Blaze called, still wrapped within her music.

She felt a tug at her ear pieces as her music vanished.

"Will you turn your Goddamn music off for ten seconds and listen to me?!" Kaiba demanded.

"I was already listening to screamo," Blaze retorted as she reached over and grabbed her orange juice.

Mornings were like a battlefield for her and Kaiba. They hated each other. She'd never forgive that asshole for punching her in the face six years ago. It still hurts even to this day. You know, when she wants it to.

Seto Kaiba groaned in irritance as he stood up and walked out of the kitchen. Fine. So long as he's the one leaving this time and not her. Blaze has no idea what her sister sees in him. Elektra even gave up her own, most powerful card for that douche! And they weren't even dating! Speaking of which, Blaze turned her head to see her sister's glare. Her eyes may be blue, but that only made the stare seem colder.

"Blaze," Elektra hissed. "you're acting like a two-year-old!"

She shrugged. "Hey sunshine, I would sooner sink into the firery abyss of the deepest and darkest trenches of Hell before I get along with you're little _boyfriend _there."

Her face went pink. "He's not my boyfriend."

Blaze smiled. "Good. I don't want that prick for a brother-in-law anyways."

Elektra sighed and rolled her eyes. She has tried and tried again, but Blaze refuses to ever accept any kindness from Seto Kaiba. Her sister stood up and walked out of the kitchen, leaving her to her empty plate. Blaze recovered her ear pieces and tucked them into her backpack. Then she as well got up to leave for school this morning.

She hated today. Mostly because it was Friday and marked the last day anyone could get tickets to the eigth grade Halloween Dance. Sure, like three guys asked her out but she only had her eyes on one man: Gryphon Coal. Gryphon was a tall, stong athlete who played on the same soccer team as Mokuba. He had the most silky hair of all of the boys, brown in color one must add, and he had deep dark eyes that Blaze usually found herself getting lost in. That boy was captivating.

As she was almost to the door, she heard someone nearly sprinting down the stairs, often missing steps as he came down.

"Hey Mokuba," Blaze greeted.

* * *

(_Mokuba's POV_)

Seto better not get mad this time. This time he was late because of _another_ dream yes, but it was the best one yet. Everything was happier. Seto and Elektra were married happily and he and Blaze were closer than New Year's Eve to January 1st. If only dreams came true.

Mokuba has had a crush on Blaze ever since they first met all those years ago in the orphanage, but even more so now. He's never asked a girl out nor has he ever had a girlfriend. Of course he has had a lot of girl friends have crushes on him, but he never returned any of those feelings. Now that Blaze was back, his infactuation with her only grew. What if this is what Seto feels for Elektra?... Nah. Seto doesn't have a heart.

He ran all they way down the stairs, sometimes taking two steps in one, and made his way to the door where Blaze was about to go out.

"Hey Mokuba," Blaze greeted.

"Mornin' Blaze," he answered.

That stupid uniform didn't really do her justice. The pink and blue clashed with her firey red eyes and charcoal hair. As they started walking out the door, Mokuba couldn't help but stare at her. Blaze was perfect. He couldn't tell why but he just knew that she meant everything to him.

As they stepped into the limo, Mokuba got a text from his older brother.

Seto: Kinda staring at Blaze's ass a little hard there, bro.

Mokuba turned and cut his eyes at his brother, who showed no form of emotion. And yes, they text each other while when they're right next to each other, but they do it so that Elektra and Blaze can't hear. He decided to reply.

Mokuba: I wasn't staring at her ass! I was staring at her. ...In retrospect that still sounded really creepy.

Seto: Yeah. No kidding, perv.

Mokuba: You're the one who put Elektra's room so close to your's, and you're the one who kept kicking her boob yesterday.

Seto: Shut up

* * *

(_Back to Blaze_)

School hadn't officialy started yet, and Blaze was chatting with her only true friend (other than Mokuba), Marzie. Marzie was a girl her age with crazy hair. Blaze knew Yugi and his tri-colored hair, but Marzie literaly had like freaking rainbow-colored hair. Naturally and predominantly, her hair was brown, but with all her highlights, her hair was also pink, purple, gold, and green. She also wore a rainbow butterfly hair clip with a thick, black border that took away from her rainbow-hair, and had her hair tied in a way that made her bun look like butterfly wings.

"If it makes you feel any better," Marzie said, "I'm not going to the dance either."

Blaze leaned againt her closed locker and sighed. "Yeah, but, I could never picture you with a date anyways."

That wasn't meant to be demeaning. Marzie didn't like most of the people at this school and was very anti-social. She only made an exception for her and Mokuba. Can't really blame her though. Marzie has been bullied for all her life and has found it hard to trust people.

Marzie grinned. "I preffer the sancitiy of my own company within solitude of thy mind."

Blaze rolled her eyes. "Okay Ghandi, but you're the only one whose happy to be alone."

"Then just go with Mokuba," Marzie said just to have it out there.

Why the hell would she go with Mokuba? "Um, Marzie," Blaze said, "I don't like him like that. Plus me and his brother aren't exactly _simpatico_ at the moment."

"Like your lack of content in the presence of his elder sibling justifies your reason, Blaze."

"Look chickadee, I'm just not into him so would you please fu-"

"Shh!" Marzie hushed she darted her dark brown eyes towards a tall boy with silky smooth brown hair as he walked by, hardly noticing them. Gryphon glanced over to Blaze and gave her a slight smirk. She returned with a half smile as he averted his gaze and walked on past.

Marzie turned and saw Blaze standing cam and cool, her eyes slightly glazed over. "Uhh, Blaze? Are you-?"

Before she could finish that sentance, Blaze fell to the ground and passed out. Marzie groaned in annoyance as she grabbed her friends foot and started to drag her to class.

"This is why I'd rather be alone," she complained.

* * *

(_And back to Mokuba_)

Mokuba kicked the ball out from under Dante's foot and shot it straight into the goal. Coach Barker blew the whistle signaling the end of practice. Mokuba's team congradulating him, and even some kids from the opposing side. Seto may have inherited all the dueling skills, but Mokuba can kick ass at soccer.

"Nice game, dude," Dante said, roughly patting his friend on the back.

"Not too bad yourself, Don," Mokuba replied.

"You do know that I'm gonna kick your ass next time though, right?" he challenged.

Mokuba pushed his friend away and answered, "Save it. Next time we're on the same side."

"Yeah we're gonna kick some serious Woodway High ass tomarrow!" a mixed kid named Jonah proclaimed, riling his team up. Jonah was one of the three best players on the team and he was also the captain. The other two best players were Mokuba and Gryphon Coal, some guy Blaze has a crush on.

Mokuba didn't really like Gryphon that much, though he still acted friendly to the guy since they're on the same team. It was nothing personal, he just wasn't a fan of Gryphon's life choices. Gryphon Coal's parents are the divoriced, so he lives with his dad since his mom was a teen mom and gave him up. Not that his dad was any better of a person to live with. Mr. Coal got insanely drunk often, and allows for his son to drink with him, and sometimes he even brings alcohol to school. He's even offered Mokuba a drink a few times before. He declined everytime, and never told a teacher about it. Aside from his alcohol problem, Gryphon was a constant player and often had multiple realationships going on at once, if you could even call it that. He never really cared much for the women he dated, he just used them for sex. And he didn't keep his realationships behind closed doors. Sometimes he would have a girl in the bathroom at school, and switch to some other girl at lunch in the gym's locker rooms, and switch to some other girl after school. But the teachers and adults seemed to love him.

By about that time, Gryphon came up behind him and patted his shoulder. "Hey, nice game."

"Thanks," Mokuba replied, faking any amount of graditude.

"Yo, Gryphon, the hell were you man?" Dante questioned. "For like half the game you were missing in action. What gives?"

A sly smile lit up on his face. "Well, you know that Hannah Godfrey chick? We went and got some, ah, sausages for her hot dog buns."

The entire team laughed with him. All except for Mokuba and Jonah.

"I don't care that you don't practice abstinence," Jonah scolded, "but I need you to be at this_ practice _on time."

"Yeah," Mokuba agreed, "It would be best for the team if you'd start kicking soccer balls and stop letting girls play with your own."

The crowd "_OH!"_-ed at them, though it wasn't meant to be an insult... well, not that much of an insult anyways. Gryphon tilted his head down and snickered a little before he lifted Mokuba up by the collar.

"Listen here you son-of-a-"

But by that time Coach Barker intervined and pulled the two boys apart.

"Hey no fighting!" the coach yelled. Jonah and Dante stood by Mokuba's side, ready to fight if they had to.

Coach Barker groaned and said, "Alright, you all go home. And if I see any more fighting, you're off the team."

Mokuba and Gryphon glared at each other before seperating. Mokuba went over to the bench where he had laid his stuff down and was starting to leave when Gryphon again came up behind him.

"Hey," Gryphon said, "Look, I'm sorry about back there man."

Mokuba rolled his eyes, though Gryphon couldn't see him do it. "Whatever."

"No, man, I'm serious-"

"What do you want?" Mokuba demanded, frustrated that Gryphon was acting nice all of the sudden. That bastard wanted something and it was something that only Mokuba could do.

"Like to cut to the chase now do you?" he said. "Good. I'll cut the crap. You seem to know that Blaze chick pretty well, right?"

_Okay, what the hell does this shit stain want with Blaze?_ Mokuba would never let anything bad happen to Blaze, and Gryphon was full of nothing but bad news. "Why?"

Gryphon smirked. "I was thinking about asking her out to the dance tomarrow."

Mokuba's heart filled with rage and jealousy. "Don't even think about it! Blaze is too smart and too good for some sleeze ball like you! She's beautiful and intelligent and strong! You'd just take her for granted!"

"Woah, chill down Mokuba. You see, I need someone like Blaze. I think that someone like her can take me away from my life and-"

"Bullshit. You'd just use her. And I'll make sure that you never get the chance."

* * *

(_Blaze's perspective_)

"God, he's taking _forever_," Blaze whined.

"Bitch, I will turn this car around and drop your ass back at the orphange if you don't shut the hell up," Kaiba snapped.

Blaze flipped him off in the rear-view mirror. She wasn't taking shit from anybody today. That morning she got a note from Mae, one of the well-known-sluts, in her locker and she has had enough drama for one day. She never told Mokuba, Marzie, Elektra, anybody about Mae bullying her. She can handle that bitch herself. She wasn't weak like she was before.

Elektra looked out the window. "Oh, there he is."

Soon enough, here comes Mokuba dashing over to the other side of the car already. He opened the door and sat his bag down between him and Elektra.

"Hey," he greeted.

Before she could even answer, she heard a tap on the window. Blaze turned around to see the gorgeous face of Gryphon Coal waving and signaling for her to roll the window down. She rapidly shoved that damn button that went all too slow for her taste.

"Hey, Gryphon," Blaze greeted being more perky than ever.

"Hey," Gryphon greeted suductively, "You're Blaze right?"

She nodded madly in response.

He chuckled. "Right. So, I was thinking, how about you be my date for the dance tomorrow?"

Blaze's mouth was slightly ajar in shock, while Mokuba's was wide open. Her lust for his kindness overtook any sort of fair judgement she had at that moment.

"I know it's last minute, but-"

"Sure!" Blaze interupted, a little louder than she meant to. "Urm, sorry, I'm just a little jumpy."

He chuckled again. "It's a'ight. Lemme see your phone so you can text me later."

Blaze grinned, trying not ot smile too big and seem like a dork, and ripped her phone from her backpack and handed it to him. She waited patiently as Gryphon typed in eleven digits into her phone and then handed it back to her. He waved at her onle last time.

"See you soon, Blaze," Gryphon said as he departed.

Kaiba put the car into drive and asked, "You know him?"

She didn't answer as she slid off the seat and onto the car floor, Mokuba's mouth still agape.

* * *

This Interlude is not over. It's going to last about two chapters longer, so you'll have to wait two chapters to see what happend to Seto and Elektra.

Anyways, will Gryphon be the heartbreaker turned good or will he remain the douchebag player he already is? Will Mokuba be able to save Blaze? Will I stop writing the endings like this because it's really corny?! No, but I should.

See you later!


	14. Blaze's Interlude: Fracture

Welcome to chapter fourteen! This is still Blaze's Interlude, like I have said before. Just to be clear, the dance they were talking about in the last chapter is a Halloween dance, but the day the dance is on is not on Halloween. I just thought that having a dance on Monday is lame :/

In this chapter, some drama is about to go down! Speakin' of which, I'm sorry for the lack of humor in this lately. If you have noticed, I change the genre fron Humor to Romance because I felt that this story was becoming too mature and serious. The humor isn't going to be as abundant as it was, but as the story progresses it will be harder and harder to laugh at it.

I know that this introduction is a downer, but I hope you guys enjoy anyways! Also, thanks everybody who has supported me during the whole week that Strike down has been up! It really means a lot to me, and I just don't have the time to answer and review everybody's stories but I'll try to get to it. Enjoy!

* * *

Strike Down

Fourteen, Blaze's Interlude: Fracture

* * *

Not again.

Blaze's foot was tapping rapidly as Elektra put the finishing touches on her hair. She's never been so nervous, and she's never worn so much make-up. Sure there was just pale lip gloss and black masquiera and eye liner, but Blaze usually only wore... nothing.

"Alright," Elektra declared, "I'm done! Wanna see?"

"Do it, Sister!" Blaze replied excitedly.

Elektra spun the chair around so that Blaze could see her reflection in the mirror. Before Blaze was an image of a beautiful, young girl with straight black hair with a braid that started at the back of her crown and went down to about half her hair length then seperated into two seperate strands that went behind her ears where the open ends, about a six inches long each, that were curled. Where her braid started there was a shining orange, yellow, and red bow that lit up like fire when exposed to the light.

"Wow," Blaze commented as she gawked at her reflection.

Elektra smiled. "Don't seem so suprised, Bells, you're a beautiful girl. And I'm glad that you've finally accepted that."

A tear escaped her eye in remembrance of the reason of why she was so insecure. Maybe Gryphon can erase her memory of that. Maybe she'll have a happily ever after.

She pun around and bear hugged her sister, with Elektra returning the gesture but careful not to mess up her new dress. Blaze wore a bright cherry red dress that was cut three inches from the knee and had a black belt, sleeves, shoes, bracelet, necklace, and thich straps. They and Tea and Serenity went dress shopping that morning just for her.

Blaze released her sister to see her slightly sobbing as well. But Elektra brushed away Blaze's tears and kissed her forehead. "Stop crying now," she said, "Your masquera will run."

Blaze smiled. "Just imagine my wedding day."

The older sister choked and held the other tightly. It was hard letting go.

Downstairs, Kaiba was watching T.V. while Nako and Teagan were conversing about some celeberty gettign arrested again. Teagan was a tall girl, with curly red hair and dull brown eyes. She was bossy at times and a little annoying and charismatic, but she only did so to mask the loneliness she had inside. When Teagan was very young, none of the kids wanted to befriend her because of her strangeness and her own family disowned her for the same reason. Her, Nako, and Asagi were to be considered friends with Blaze. They all got along well.

Blaze trecked down the stairs slowly and highly anxious with the date with the boy of her dreams. She felt like Cinderella- no, Cinderella was weak and clueless. She was more like... Maleficent. Yeah, that's more badass.

When Nako and Teagan caught sight of her, they squealed and rush toward her in excitement to see her dolled-up. Jeez, she's a human being not a Barbie.

"W-wow, Blaze," Nako stuttered. "Y-you look so p-pretty. Um, no homo."

"Yeah! You look like to can go to prom and still kick ass and take names," Teagan mentioned.

Blaze blushed. "Thanks."

She turned her attention down to Kaiba who was bust being the lazy bum he is and continuously stare at the television. She'll never get along with that jerk. Ever.

"Hey Kaiba!" Blaze called. "How do I look?"

He turned around slowly then replied, "Considering the fact that you're thirteen and I'm nineteen, I can't say anything about your attractiveness without facing a possible lawsuit."

"That didn't stop you from complimenting my sister."

"I'm not afraid of your sister."

"So you're afraid of her little sister?"

"Yes," Kaiba admitted. "You're like a demon spawn. Like that girl from The Ring."

She stuck her tongue out at him as he turned his attention back to the television. Dick. Elektra came back down the stairs right at the front doors opened to an excited Mokuba.

"We won!" He proclaimed, tracking mud in with his dirty cleats and clothes. He stopped in his tracks once he saw Blaze. Maybe it was the make-up, maybe it was the dress, maybe it was Blaze herself, but for whatever reason Mokuba paused for the longest time as red as a rose. "W-wow," he muttered. "Blaze... you look... beautiful."

His compliment made her blush as well. "Urm, uh, thanks, Mokuba."

Elektra looked over at the clock above the T.V. Kaiba was watching and panicked. "Oh crap! You said that Gryphon was gonna be there at nine. There's only fifteen minutes left!"

She mentally facepalmed herself. _It's your first date and you're already gonna be late?!_ "Oh shit. Do you have time to get dressed?"

Elektra has just taken a shower and was in her pajamas with a damp towel wrapped in her hair. "Uh, I don't think I can dry my hair in time-"

"I'll walk with her," Mokuba volunteered. "All I have to do is change my shoes." He turned to his brother. "Is that okay, Seto?"

"I don't care," Kaiba said, not taking his eyes off the screen. "You'd just damn well be back before midnight."

"The dance only lasts until ten thirty," Blaze pointed out.

"Considering that he's escorting you, I'm just afraid that you might get him involed in something stupid."

"_You're_ something stupid!" Blaze retorted.

"You're face is something stupid," he snapped back.

"You cusssed a few sentences back," Mokuba mentioned.

Blaze could just barely hear Kaiba mutter the f-word to himself.

* * *

The party can be described in one word: Loud. Blaze had to cover her ears once she stepped in the building- not from the volume but from the genre. _Dear God, what does wrecking balls have to do with Halloween?_

Mokuba crossed his arms and looked around.

"See anyone we know?" Blaze asked.

"I see Jonah and his girlfriend Hailey," he answered. "I don't see Gryphon anywhere."

Blaze's heart sank. Was she abandoned again? "Do... D'ya think that he forgot?"

"Well-" Mokuba looked like he wanted to say something other than what he did, but after he looked at Blaze's worried eyes he decided it was better if he kept his opinion to himself. "-I'm sure he wouldn't forget someone like you."

"Maybe he didn't forget," she pouted. "Maybey he _meant_ to forget."

Mokuba turned and put his hand on her frigid shoulder, locking his eyes on hers. "Hey, no one could ever be stupid enough to be that cruel to you."

Blaze grinned half-heartedly. Mokuba was rich, cute, and easy to get along with. He wouldn't know it was like to be her and to be constantly rejected by those who should love her. That's why she never wanted to date him. She didn't deserve his innocence and kindness. And he didn't need her tragedies to become his. So she likes to keep her expectations low, which is why she fell for Gryphon. He's nothing but a drunk ladies man, but maybe she can turn him around. She'd rather ruin some douche's life than someone like Mokuba's.

Right then, Gryphon showed up behind them wearing smooth grey shirt and clean black pants.

"Hey Blaze," he greeted, moving up to her and planting a kiss on her cheek. She couldn't help but smell an all-too familiar stench in his breath. Alcohol. "Is Mokie hear to chaparone us?"

"Don't call me that. Ever," Mokuba hissed. She has never seen such a sinister look in his eyes. "And no, I'm not staying l-"

Before he could finish that sentence, Mae rushed over and grabbed a hold of his arm. "Oh Mokuba! I didn't think you were comming. And you're so dirty." Mae elongated the word "dirty" to purposely make it seem irrotic.

"Uh... Hey? Mae I'm kinda-"

"Shh!" Mae purred. "Let's dance."

Mae's and Blaze's eyes meant, with Blaze's eyes stinging with jealousy and rage. If only her looks could kill. Mae prefferably.

Gryphon kissed her cheek again. "Don't worry about that slut. She is only as good as she can rub."

Say what now? "And how would you know?"

He grinned, his eyes cloudy with drunkeness. "I'm been around the bush."

She fakely smiled and turned away with a frown. Not even ten minutes into the date and Gryphon's already drunk and he's already admitted to sleeping with other women? This is eigth grade not a strip club. Well, beggers can't be choosers. After all, this is what she wanted. Right?

"Not too drunk to dance, are you?" Blaze asked nervously.

"How'd you figure that out?"

She shrugged. "You smell like a one-hit-wonder's career; full of nothing but alcohol and opaque disappointment."

He swayed and chuckled, "Opaque makes it less disappointing, right?"

She nodded in uncertainty of his behavior. "Sure. Why not?"

Gryphon took Blaze's arm and guided her inside where the music had changed to "Radioactive". Finally. Something she actually liked from her generation. Dancing for them wasn't like the tango or the waltz; dancing in this generation is jumping rythmicly to the music with your phone on "strobe lights" in one hand. Not that Blaze has any right to critisize. Dancing for her was head banging and mosh pits. At least then you'd have to worry about blood staining your shirt and migraines instead of your make-up running from sweat.

Gryphon actually left Blaze after ten minutes to go talk to some of his friends. And right when she was actually enjoying it. With no one to dance with, or anyone on the dancefloor that she actually _liked_, she walked over to the punch bowl and took her drink to an empty table. Great. Alone. Again.

"Ugh, I swear- If Mae Yoshino wasn't a girl I'd beat the living crap outta her," Mokuba sighed as he sat next to her.

"Hey, Blaze greeted. "Cinderella didn't fall inlove with you in the past wenty minutes?"

"Psh," Mokuba replied, "Mae is more like Drizzella. Or Lucifer."

"Lucifer the cat or Lucifer dark angel ruler of Hell?"

"Both."

They both laughed. This is why Mokuba is her best friend. He's her other half. He fills in what she lacks. He makes her feel whole again.

"So," Blaze said, "what princess would I be?"

Mokuba thought about it for a moment. "Uhh... Ariel."

She snickered. "How the hell am I Ariel? Wait... do I smell I like fish?"

He grinned warmly and answered, "No, you smell fine. I mean that you're brave and loving and curious. And you can sing in such a beautiful way-" He turned and saw her blushing. "Um, I can hear you singing from my room. N-not that I wait around and listen to you, I-"

"Mokuba," Blaze interupted, "it's okay. I'm flattered. You're... sweet."

This time, he blushed too. They both laughed at their own modesty. Maybe she wouldn't ruin his life.

Then, Gryphon returned and held out his hand to Blaze. "C'mon. I gotta suprise."

Blaze turned back to Mokuba who half-smiled, unwilling to let her go. Blaze didn't really want to leave with Gryphon either. But he was her date, and she was respectful enough to at least live through one night with him. And if anything, at least he has beautiful hair.

"See you in a little bit," Blaze said as she stood up.

She and Gryphon walked away from the party and outside into the chilly night. What where they doing out here? It's way too cold to be out here for long, and no one's around as far as she could see. She held Gryphon's arm tighter and scooted closer to him.

They stopped a few feet away from the wall and stood silent. The night air was icey and dry; a sign that snow will soon come. Blaze's bare skin goosebumped as the wind blew daggers into her, causing her to scoot even closer to Gryphon for warmth. What was really weird, was that Gryphon smelled even more drunk.

"Um, Gryphon?" Blaze chattered between her teeth. "What're we-?"

Before she could finish, Gryphon thrusted her to the wall, his tongue already halfway down her throat. His mouth reeked of cheap beer and nachos, and his thirst for his tongue to fill her mouth almost made it impossible for her to breathe. Not that she could anyway. He caught Blaze completely by suprise. She wasn't ready for something this serious this fast.

Blaze tried to back away but that only made Gryphon hungrier for her. He thrusted her harder to the wall and held her tightly in his grasp. Then something freaky happened. Blaze could feel a presence starting at her kneecaps and slowly moving up her thigh and to her lower rear and started to feel a tug at her underwear. Okay. That's too far. Actually, he went too far when this whole damn thing started.

Blaze bit onto his tongue and kicked him right twixt the legs. He immediantly backed away in immense pain as she worked to pull her panties up from her knees. She's never felt so violated.

"God fucking dammit!" Gryphon cursed with his tonge bleeding. He quickly became enraged and punched Blaze in the eye and causing her to fall into the wall. Before she could evaluate what was happening, Gryphon picked her up by the neck and stared into her eyes with drunken fury. "The fuck is wrong with you?! You slut!"

Blaze spit in his face as retorted, "You're the whore in this relationship."

He smiled, more blood running out of his mouth, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade knife. "Say anything else and I'll cut your goddam tongue out, understand me bitch?"

Blaze narrowed her eyes at him. No. This wasn't supossed to happen to her. Not again. "Fucking make me."

Gryphon said nothing as he ran the blade across her ear. She grimaced in pain, but didn't scream for help. If he was bold enough to slit her ear, then he's capable of slitting her very throat. This guy was crazy!

"Listen to me," Gryphon demanded. Blaze shook her head, sweating bullets in fear. Gryphon forcefully shoved her into the wall again, his forearm still to her neck. "Listen to me! If you tell anyone about this, I'll carve your pretty little eyes out and send them as a present to your dear sister after I cut you inside out. Got it?"

Blaze bit her lip and replied, "Fuck you."

He grinned sinisterly and dropped her. As he walked away, Blaze sat alone in shock. She was supossed to have a happy ending. If she wanted to be constatnly degraded and rejected, then she would go back to live in Germany.

* * *

The dungeon wasn't a homely place. It was cold, wet, and filthy. Blaze lived in a cell next to her father, Franchesco Kristoff, who lived alone in his cell. Franchesco was a troubled man to say the least. When Elektra's father, Klaus Redgaurd, would pick his "test subjects", he would often choose people like hookers, the homeless, junkees, criminals, and orphans; the people society wouldn't miss. Blaze's father was a criminal; a convicted pedophile to be exact. He had black hair like her's, but he had dark green eyes as opossed to Blaze's red eyes. He had a scar going over his left eye said to have been formed after a brawl with police officers. Unlike Klaus, Franchesco hated his daughter. He blamed Blaze's very existance for his imprisonment here.

Franchesco cut his gaze from the wall to his daughter. "What do you want?"

Blaze was only four at the time. She only knew Elektra for two years now, and got moved to the same chamber as her father and twelve other people after her mother, Blanca, died from a staff infection. Blanca was a drug abuser when she was caught on the street, and never loved Blaze. She had always been too ashamed with herself to ever feel deserving of raising someone as innocent as her own child. Blanca felt that Blaze would be better off if they never loved each other, so she rarely held her daughter, or kissed her, or sang to her, and she never, ever told Blaze that she loved her. So all that Blaze ever wanted was for someone to love her.

"Daddy?" Blaze replied, "I was just wondering-"

She paused as Franchesco started muttering to himself.

"I- I'm sorry? What did you say Daddy?"

"SHUT UP!" her father snapped. "I'm not your father and I'll never be your father! Got that you stupid bitch?!"

With Blanca, Blaze had grown acustom to neglect, but the harshness of her own father's words stung greater than the worst venom. Why is it that the people who are supossed to love her most hate her so much? What was wrong with her? Blaze started sobbing as she held her stuffed dragon doll, Fliege, close to her as she began to sob lightly. Why can't anybody love her?

* * *

(_Switching back to Mokuba_)

Blaze has been taking forever. Mokuba sat impatiently as he awaited to see her again. He hoped that Gryphon wasn't trying to _do_ anything with her. Not that Blaze would ever go along with anything as demeaning as that. She knew better.

At about that time, Mokuba turned to see Blaze fast-pacing herself to him with her hand covering her ear. He was happy to see her, but just as quickly he felt something ominous in the air. Something was very wrong.

"Blaze?" Mokuba asked once she got close to him, with her averting her eyes from his. "What's wrong? Where's Gryphon?"

She shook her head. "I wanna go home now."

"What now?" He hasn't been more confused. Why would she want to leave so soon?

"Please, Mokuba," Blaze said again, this time a little more abrassive. "I want to leave. Now."

Mokuba saw something shining on her ear in the light. It was smooth, like her earrings, but it wasn't black. It was thick and red. Blood.

"You're bleeding-!"

"Mokuba!" Blaze snapped, her face turning dangerously fragile. "Take me away from here now!"

He sighed and finally submitted. "Fine. Let's go."

They pushed passed the crowd of schoolmates and into the October night. It was chilly, especially for Mokuba who was still in his soccer uniform that consisted of a short sleeved shirt and shorts. Not that it was any better for Blaze who was wearing a short-skirted dress with two-inch straps. When they were finally far enough away from the school, Mokuba noticed Blaze slowing down and finally stopping.

"What is it?" he asked.

She didn't answer, though he noticed something falling from her eyes. Something clear and glistening.

He reached over to her, since she was only about two feet away, and said, "Blaze? Why are you crying?"

All of the sudden, Blaze through herself into Mokuba and sobbed, "He, he tried to rape me! G-Gryphon tried to rape me!"

Gryphon did what?! Mokuba has never been so enraged. He could never fathom about anyone being that low. Not even his brother would do that!

Mokuba held her tightly. "Blaze..."

"He molested me!" she continued. "And he said that he would carve my eyes out if I ever told anyone! And he cut my ear with a knife!"

He made fists out of his hands. Cruel, savage thoughts passed through Mokuba's mind as he contemplated how to exact his revenge on that sleeze ball. Gryphon Coal deserves to rot in Hell.

"Don't worry," Mokuba comforted, "I'll tell Seto and-"

"No!" Blaze interupted, pushing herself away from him.

"What?"

"Don't tell Kaiba. Or Elektra. Or anyone for that matter. I... I don't want to drag them into this."

"Blaze! He tried to _rape_ you!"

She wiped her tears away. "This is something I can handle. Kaiba and my sister have enough to deal with. Abuse is nothing I'm not used to."

Abuse? Mokuba's heart sank. How many people have hurt her?

Mokuba held her arms tightly with his gaze full of kindness and compassion. He loved Blaze. He'd do anything for her. "Blaze Kristoff, I'm not gonna stand around while that douche harrasses you."

She smiled warmly, her eyes burning with kindness. "Don't worry about me. This whole thing will blow over in a week. And I'm _never_ talking to that asshead again."

He smiled then held her again. "Just promise that you won't do something stupid."

"I'll try."

* * *

Oye. That chapter was hard to write. Also, I'm running out of internet data (sorry YouTube is my drug), so I'm gonna be posting less often now, if at all, but everything will go back to normall after the twenty-first.

Anyways, I have a few notes:

1\. Bells is Blaze's nickname.

2\. I'm sorry, I couldn't hold off on the f-word anymore. I prolonged it for as long as I could but it was needed. IT WAS NEEDED.

3\. I'm not sorry about that Cinderella bashing. She is my least favorite Disney Princess and if you have watched the movie you'd see how clueless she was. I'm sorry Disney, please don't sue.

Ugh. Next chapter: the final Interlude for now. No spoilers. On the brighter side, after the next chapter it goes right back to Elektra and Seto. Be ready!

Later!


	15. Blaze's Interlude: Halloween

This chapter is a heart breaker. Writing this is going to kill me. No more comments. Welcome to the end of Blaze.

* * *

Strike Down

Fifteen, Blaze's Interlude: Halloween

* * *

Her head hurts. That's all.

The mansion was quiet tonight. Blaze couldn't shake the fear that came with the shadows. She had to use the light of her phone to write the note in it's entirity, and she wrote slowly to make it as legible as possible. She dare not read through it and risk backing out now.

Blaze placed the note carefully in the center of her desk underneath her phone and Fliege. It was amazing how's she's kept that old stuffed black dragon through all these years. Blaze took in a deep breath as she carefully crept out of her room and started slowly stepping ever so closer to the opposite end of the floor; the end of the hall where Kaiba and Elektra's rooms were. This would be the only time in her life she would find Kaiba to be useful. Why _did_ he put their rooms so close together?

Blaze snuck down to his bedroom and silently opened the door. She took a deep breath and peeked around the door to see Kaiba sound asleed in his bed. Good. He won't mess this up. She would check on Elektra, but her heart couldn't take it. That would definately make her back out. And quitting just was not an option this time.

The door to Kaiba's bathroom opened silently as she stepped in. It was still humid in there, a sign that he had just taken a hot shower a few hours ago. Hopefully it was long enough ago that he would be too asleep to be startled with what's about to happen. Blaze opened up his medicine cabinet and heard it creek in the stillness of the night. She rapidly spun around to see if Kaiba had awoke. She listened intintively to the silnce of the night. No footsteps. Good. Blaze searched the cabinet for anything usefull. At first, she only saw shaving cream, a razor, toothpaste, hair gel, and deoderent. Then she saw it. A 81 mg bottle of asprin. She snatched the bottle from the cabinet and weighed it in her hands. Luckily, it would seem that Kaiba purchased this not too long ago since the bottle still felt fairly full. She took in another deep breath as she looked into the mirror as she shut the cabinet. In her reflection, she could see her healing ear and black eye. It hurts. She doesn't want it to hurt anymore. Her head hurts. That's all.

* * *

Earlier that day, school was a living Hell. Blaze had never felt so... gone. After she bid goodbye to Elektra as she went to the lower Junior High of the school, everything went to shit. She first noticed it as she was walking down the hallway.

The hall was very quiet as she walked down, as the only noises were snickering, giggling, and whispering. Blaze was halfway to her locker when she saw Gryphon standing next to his friend, Edward. She cut her eyes at him in an attempt to threaten him, but instead he became enraged and slapped her across the face with great force, almost knocking her down.

"The hell are you looking at?" Gryphon taunted.

Blaze regained her balance and retorted, "I don't know. Some son-of-a-bitch whose life isn't worth a damn."

Edward walked around her and picked her up and held up her arms so she could only defend herself with her legs. She swore the worst possible insults one could ever conjure as her legs flailed in a futile attempt to keep Gryphon at bay. Gryphon smiled maniacally as her punched Blaze right in the gut. She screamed in misery that only fell on deaf ears. He jabbed again into her stomach, resulting in the same response.

"STOP!" Blaze demanded.

He punched her again and started laughing in sick joy. "Aw, what's the matter Blaze?" Gryphon punched her again. "Just gonna stand there and watch me punch you?"

Edward laughed. "Hey, it's like that Eminem and Rihanna song, ain't it?"

Gryphon laughed as well and replied, "Oh yeah. _Just gonna stand there like a bitch_-" He punched her. "-_That's alright because you ain't worth a shit_-" He puncher her again.

Blaze was sobbing at this point, fearful of her life. How can a human being be this evil and cruel? "Please," she begged with tears running down her cheek, "Please stop."

Edward let her go and she fell to the ground holding her abdomen in intense pain. Her insides felt like they were on fire. But nothing hurt worse than her pride. She thought that she could manage this. She knew that Elektra wouldn't always be around to take care of her, and she didn't want to burden anybody with _her_ problems. She doesn't want people to see har as annoying like how Kaiba does. Blaze wants to prove that she's self-sufficiant. But not even she can save herself from the embodiment of Satan.

"If you're smart, you'll stay there and rot to death," Gryphon tormented as he walked away.

Left alone, Blaze wept in her own sorrow. Why can't she be loved?

* * *

Later that day, Blaze found herself alone in the girls locker room. All throughout gym, Mae and her possi tormented her beyond an average human's breaking point. Marzie even stood up for her, and Marzie isn't the person to stick up for others. But, as it would seem, she was the only one who cared about Blaze at all.

She sighed loudly as she opened up her locker. As she put her gym clothes in and her school unifrom out, she noticed that there was a note in there. She held it up and read it.

_Dear Blaze,_

_You're not as amazing as you think you are. Someone really needs to bring you back down to Earth. Right now you're probably don't know why we hate you, but you have to understand that you're just such an awful sorry excuse for a person. Lets see... You're sister's annorexic, you're a whore, you're bad-shit ugly, and you're more pathetic than your mother's dick._

_I mean, talk about slutty. You live in Seto Kaiba's mansion. How much does he pay you and your sister every night? Does he give you extra when you have lesbian sex with each other? Eww! You people are so gross. I hope you go to Hell for that._

_Not to mention all your other sins. Like how ugly you are. Have you looked in the mirror lately? You have like no boobs for one thing. You should get implants if you don't ever want to be known as a lesbian (and if you are, I mean no offense). And when you do, I hope that you die from some grusome infection. Also, why are you so skinny? If you're that annorexic or bolemic, then just go starve to death already. You'd look great six feet under in your retarded emo clothes. Speaking of emo, does cutting your wrists make all your problems go away or do you just complain about it on YouTube? Maybe one day you'll bleed to death like how you want :) I sure hope so!_

_Love, Mae_

_PS: Please just die already!_

Rage filled her heart as she crumpled the paper up and slammed the locker shut.

* * *

Now Blaze stood alone infront of the mirror that mocked her very existance. All that's ever happened in her life was nothing but cruel and heartless. No one ever loved her. Not her parents, not any kids, not even her boyfriend. The only who ever cared for her was Elektra, but she was never going to burden her again.

Elektra deserved a better life than the one she had with Blaze. If it wasn't for Blaze, her and Seto would be deeply in love and have the life they both deserved, Elektra wouldn't have starved, no one would bully Marzie and Mokuba for standing up for her, and her father wouldn't be so unhappy. No one ever loved her, but Blaze loved everyone enough to take away the source of their suffering. Her.

Blaze choked up as she started sobbing. _My head hurts,_ Blaze thought, trying to lie to herself and give her a reason for taking these pills. _My head hurts. That's all_. No one will ever suffer for her. No one will ever be tortured for her. No one will hate her anymore. Gryphon and Mae won't hurt her anymore. She would be at peace now.

Blaze uncapped the bottle and swallowed the first pill. She swallowed it with ease. One down, a few hundred more to go. Quietly sniffling, Blaze spilled a handful into her palm and swallowed that, too. There's no going back. Not anymore. Her crying became louder as she realized just what she was doing. She did this so she would die quickly and painlessly, but her memories and emotions were the drug that was killing her. No more sunshine. No more smiling. No more Elektra. No more Mokuba. No more happiness, music, laughing, or love. Ashamed to still be living, Blaze chewed up the last of the pills until the bottle was hallow. No going back. Blaze is going to die.

She could no longer hold in her emotions as she broke down on the bathroom floor. What has she done? How could she cause so much pain to the people she loves? Why couldn't she just never have been born? She clentched her fists in her hair as she heard a squeaking noise of a bed and the stomping of angry feet. The door was flung open as Kaiba stormed in.

"Blaze?!" He yelled. "What the hell are you doing in here?! Do you have any idea how late it is?!"

Blaze shook her head as she sobbed, "M-my head hurts."

Seto shook his head, enraged, and replied, "That doesn't give you a reason to be in my-"

He paused as he saw the familiar bottle of asprin near the sink. Her head hurts. Her head hurts. Kaiba walked passed her and held the light bottle in his palm. No. There was no way that Blaze could swallow that whole bottle of pills.

"What did you do?" Kaiba muttered in shock.

She shook her head again. "I'm tired."

He fell down onto his knees and grasped her tiny shoulders. "Blaze! Why would you do something this stupid?!"

"I-I'm tired of living if no one will love me."

"A lot of people love you! Elektra! Mokuba! And I love you even though you're a bratty little pain!"

In the shadows of the night, Blaze caught a glimpse of shiny liquid seeping from Kaiba's eyes. Was he really crying for her?

"You're so stupid," he yelled, still keeping his voice clear and angry despite the tears, "You're so fucking stupid... You- You can't just do this! You can't just leave behind the people who love you!"

"I-I don't want to burden anybody anyomore," she sobbed, "No one loves me. No one loves me. N-n-n-n-" Her speech started to slurr, a sign of the drugs already taking effect.

Seto shook Blaze, but he could already feel her muscles tense up. He panicked. He did truly love Blaze, though not in the way he loved Elektra and not in the brotherly way he loved Mokuba. Blaze was like his little sister if he had one. Fortunately, he remebered something he learned a long time ago when he hired Teagan. She was a nurse. Also, just as luckly, Teagan spent the night here while her house was fumegated.

"TEAGAN!" Seto screamed. After three seconds of nothing, he tried again. "TEAGAN! GET UP HERE! TEAGAN!"

Down the hallway, he heard footsteps comming up towards the door.

"In here!" Seto called.

Teagan, who was in black saggy pants and a blue T-shirt, threw open the door. "What do you want? It's the middle of the night."

"Blaze tried to kill herself."

Teagan snapped right awake. "What?"

"She swallowed my asprin pills, all of them," Seto clarified.

She immediantly rushed over as her nursing skills took over. Teagan held Blaze and laid her down on her side. "Blaze, lay down and try to stay calm." She turned to Kaiba. "Seto, go get your wallet. Now!"

Without question, Seto rushed into his room and retrieved his wallet from his nightstand. Why would Blaze do this? What was so horrible that made her snap? But that didn't matter now. All that mattered was keeping her alive. When he went back into his bathroom, he saw Blaze twitching in the fetile position with foam in her mouth. She was seizing.

Teagan was futily tring to talk to Blaze and keep her concious until she turned and saw him paralyzed in shock. "Seto! Gimme that wallet now!"

He snapped out of it and tossed his wallet to her as she put the wallet in Blaze's mouth to keep her from biting. There was nothing that Kaiba has seen that compared to this. Someone as sweet and creative and humorous as Blaze doesn't just decide to die. Something was very wrong.

At about that time, the door opened again to Elektra and Mokuba, who were still half asleep.

"Seto?" Mokuba yawned. "What's going-? "

"Blaze!" Elektra shrieked as she saw her sister seizing infront of her. She tried to rush towards her, but Kaiba stopped her and took them both outside.

Elektra kicked and cried in frustration that he was keeping her away from protecting her sister. "Let me in!" she demanded.

"Elektra," Seto said, "Stop. There's nothing more you can do." He turned to his little brother, who looked as pale as a ghost in fear. "Mokuba, go call Dr. Adreck and tell him to come here now."

He nodded and speeded down the stairs. As soon as he left, Elektra fell to the ground crying. "W-what happened?"

Seto knelt down beside her and cradled her in his arms. "I'm sorry. She took all my pills. Elektra, Blaze tried to commit suicide."

Elektra completely broke down. There was nothing as scary or as sorrowful as watching someone you loved like a sister slowly suffer and die right before your eyes. To see this once outgoing, cheerful soul reach such a low is something no one should ever see or experience. She poured her eyes out on his chest, unable to picture life without her beloved sister. Blaze was too important to lose.

"W-why wo-would sh-she do it?" Elektra sobbed.

He shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe she left a note or something."

She wiped her burning eyes and replied, "M-maybe. I'll g-go check her room."

"You want me to go with you?" Seto offered.

"Please."

He wrapped his arm around her and guided her into Blaze's room. Elektra looked around the room and saw her old stuffed black dragon and her phone sitting on a piece of paper. She broke away from him and held the note in her hands. She read it out loud.

"_Happy Halloween!_

_Well, I guess not. 'Cause this is the day I die. I'm so sorry Elektra. I'm sorry that you starved because of me. I'm sorry that you're life is slowed because of me. I'm sorry that you and Seto can't be happy together because of me. All I seem to do is drive wedges between people. Ella, you spead wisdom and love and peace. All I spead is doom and anger and malice. I'm not fit for this world which is filled with too much evil to begin with. I feel that I am a curse rather than a sense of joy._

_No one loves me. My own parents hated me. I never had any friends beside you, Mokuba, or Marzie. Everyone hates me because I'm annoying and strange. Not even Gryphon liked me. I'm sorry about not telling you this sooner, but Gryphon molested me at the dance. He tried to have sex with me and when I fought back, he threatened to carve my eyes out and send them to you and gut me inside out. And at school he punched me in the stomach alot and laughed about it like it was some sick sport. I guess that those who are supossed to love me will never feel anything but contempt for me. So, thank you, Elektra, for loving me. Your kindness was more than I could ever ask for._

_Also, I'm sorry for not telling you about Mae. She picks on me alot, too, and gives me spiteful notes all the time. If you look in my backpack in the front pocket you'll find the one she gave me today. She has the habit of pointing out my flaws like I don't already see them. It never really bothered me before because I still had hope. I had hope that the world will cleanse itself of all evil and share with me the love that it has kept hidden for the past thirteen years. But hope is the cruelist thing in the world._

_I'm sorry for all suffering I have caused. I regret alot, but I'm okay with most of my choices. I never drank, smoke, had sex (yet), or did drugs. Happiness and life were enough to get me high. And now I end my life because I feel that the world and everyone around me will benefit once I'm gone. I don't deserve to ruin everyone else's lives to benefit my own. It's too selfish to do so, and yet it is selfish to kill myself. But Elektra and Mokuba and everyone else is tremendously strong and will adapt to survive without me. I know they can. They must live on. For me. That is my only wish; to be remembered by those who loved me._

_All I ever wanted was to be loved._

_Don't forget me, Blaze."_

Elektra fell backwards into Seto and dropped the paper. "Oh God... Oh God! Seto!" She grabbed onto his nightshirt and started bawling. "Seto! I-If she dies-!"

"She's not gonna die!" Seto snapped, squeezing her arms tightly.

"Be realistic Seto!" Elektra pleaded, "She has no will... Blaze... Blaze is going to die... loveless..."

She curled back up in his arms and started weeping again. Seto held her tightly trying to think of something comforting to say. No words came. He tried to think of someway to help. Nothing more could be done. He thought of the reason for all this. No one loved her.

What is wrong with the world when no one whose duty is to eternally love you straight-up hate you? How could someone live with themselves and say "I don't love my children and I'm okay with that"? Because that's what neglect is. That's why Blaze tried killed herself. Without love, you are no longer human. When you are no longer human, then what are you? You would be what's know as a monster.

* * *

Gahhhhh. That was painful for me to write. This chapter is made to be completely serious. I have very strong feelings about bullying and neglect.

Bullies: How dare you constantly cause emotional/ physical/ psychological damage to another human being? That's sick. If you're a bully, then you'd better tell every person you meet this: "I degrade and cause distress and trauma to others for my own amusement." See how many people like you after that. I sure as hell don't.

Parents: If you don't love your kids with all your heart, or if you're too lazy to care for them, then you don't deserve kids. You don't deserve the joy of raising a whole other human being and watching them grow into something incredible thanks to your love and attentiveness. For those kinds of parents out there who don't care for their kids but keep them and pretend that they're little dolls or completely non-existent, I don't care for you. You are sorry excuses for human beings and you deserve nothing more than to rot in Hell.

Victims: Don't do nothing. Fight. Fight until your knuckles are bleeding and your throat is sore enough to cause you to go mute from asking for help. Because when you die (and this goes for all religions or lack of), you're judged by what you have done. And if all you did was curl up in a ball and ignore it, you're not doing yourself too good. Though, there are situations where your only choice is too curl up and endure it. But with abuse and bullying, scream, fight, and kick your way out. This is _your_ life. You only have one.

But no matter what,

Despite all hatred,

Everything will get better-

later on.


	16. Recovery

The last few chapters have been less-than-happy to say the least. More humor will be added to this one, though I'm not going to stray from the somber path I have already paved. Sorry.

Just for the record: Blaze is still alive. You can breathe now. The events in the chapter will take place three days after her suicide attempt, so the date will be Thursday, November 3rd.

Also, it is back in Elektra's perspective. There will be no more Interludes for awhile. And Blaze won't recover for some time.

Sorry for the depressing chapters :/ but the story must be told. No matter how saddening it is, or how hard it is for me to do this to these characters.

* * *

Strike Down

Sixteen: Recovery

* * *

Nothing can be compared to the pain of an broken heart.

The sky was light grey as a sign of the upcomming winter. I looked around and saw bare trees and cold concrete. Everything was dead. Well, it's that time of year, I suppose. Mother told me something very wise long ago. She told me that Winter is the season of death, Spring is the season of rebirth, Summer is the season of life, and Fall is the season of remembrence. This Winter, to me, has been especially cruel.

Blaze, the closest thing I've ever had to family, almost died at her own hands. She's this beautiful, bold spirit and the fact that someone as cruel as Mae and Gryphon broke her down like she was made of glass sickened me. But how could I let this happen? Who am I to let my sister be tormented like that for so long? Seto tells me that it's not my fault. That there would be no way for me to know what was happening. That doesn't excuse me in my mind. I should've done _something_. I'm supossed to protect her, aren't I?

I felt a presence behind me as a hand was placed on my back. At first I tensed up, but then I relized who it was.

"It's too cold to be wearing a skirt," Seto said.

"Try telling the school that," I responded.

"Still..."

"Hey, I'm wearing my pantyhose at least."

He _hmph_ed. "Like that makes a difference."

I rubbed my left leg on my right, feeling the freezing weather. "It would be worth it if it would finally snow."

"You're from Germany," Seto pointed out, "Didn't it snow enough there?"

I shrugged. "I wasn't ever allowed to leave the mansion. And afterwards we couldn't stay in a place with cold weather like this."

A thought passed through my head that made me blush brightly.

"What?" Seto questioned.

"If I got too cold, would you keep me warm?"

A silnce fell on us as he was reluntant to answer. It wasn't meant to be a serious question. I was just screwing with him. Well, in the way meant to not fit in that situation.

I chuckled and pushed him playfully. "I'm kidding."

Partly. For the past few days, I've started growing closer to Seto. It was like I was falling in love with him. But my heart knew better. I had a crush, I'll admitt to that, but I didn't love him in a romantic way. Our relationship couldn't last through a very awkward marrige, not to mention that I can't have kids. Once that's out, I never really find myself with that guy for too much longer. Seto deserves some beautiful trophy wife- no wait, he deserved better than that. He deserved someone quiet and who doesn't have a serial killer for a father. Well, at least the last part.

"Well, I wouldn't let you die," he replied.

"Y'know, that survivalist guy on T.V. says that the fastest way for two people to get warm is for them to strip naked and cuddle each other," I teased.

"Right, but he also is the same guy who drinks his own pee."

"So would you rather be snuggling with be butt-naked or drink your own piss?" I asked.

He grimaced as he tried to think of an answer. "Drink my own piss."

What?! My mouth opened widely in ashtonishment. He picked drinking his own urine over _me_?! "Excuse me?!"

He laughed lightly while blushing at the same time. "Well, I wouldn't want to put you in an immodest situation against your will. But if it came down to survival then I'd do whatever it took to save you."

I stared at him awkwardly with my eyes wide and my cheeks red. He'd do that for me? That's so sweet... Man, I need to accidentally get us both lost in the Alaskan wilderness. Then again, I'd might have to drink my own pee. Or get eaten by bears or bigfoot. Personally, I'd preffer to get eaten by bears and bigfoot before I ever have to drink my pee.

Before we could say anything more awkward to each other, Mokuba pushed through us and silently made his way to the limo. I felt bad for the kid. He's never cried throughout this entire experience, as compared to me who had to lull myself to sleep with my own sobbing. On the first night, Seto even slept in my room with me and comforted me. But with Mokuba, he hadn't really felt anything with all this, nor has he said anything other than minimal answers to small questions. He was totally out of character. It was like he was a shell of who he used to be. And no one took this harder than his big brother.

I looked up to Seto's blank face. All he's ever wanted- all he's ever fought for- was for Mokuba to be happy. It hurt me to see them suffering. Blaze said in her suicide note that she wanted to die so that everyone else could live the lives she thought right for them. I'm sure that she didn't know that her death would be this heavy on our shoulders. Even though she's very much alive (and though they had to resussitate her three times), her despair has hurt us all. If she had just told us... Well, not that it can be helped now. But we will adapt from this. Seto said that he has already pressed charges against Gryphon Coal and Mae Yoshino for causing Blaze's suicide attempt. If convicted, they'll be facing hard time in prison. Not to mention that the school is expelling them by next week.

Not that school wasn't bad enough. Now I had to deal with everyone knowing about this. Of course everyone's sympathetic, even my bullies, but now everyone will view her as a dainty, fragile little girl. And that's not who Blaze is and it's not how she wants to be judged. It'll take more than painkillers to ease her agony. She needs love. That's cheesy as hell but it's true. All Blaze had ever wanted was to be loved.

"Just one more day, Elektra," Seto comforted as he saw my worry. "Just one more day of school after this and you won't have to deal with this anymore."

I shook my head. "I've been fighting away my demons for almost seveteen years, Seto. I've been keeping my own evil at bay because I wanted to survive. I kept myself alive to keep her strong. But then she did this." I turned away from him as a way to hide my face so he wouldn't see my tears. "If she's gone, then I'll cease to function. I'll have nothing else in this world that I care about more than her."

I felt something grab onto my waist as Seto pull me into his embrace. "Elektra," he spoke softly, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you or Blaze. She maybe hard to love, but I love her enough to know that she doesn't deserve to die like this."

My hands clentched his shirt collar as I took in as much of his brief affection as I could. "Thank you."

* * *

(_Mokuba's perspective_)

Nothing can be compared to the pain of an broken heart. Mokuba felt empty without Blaze. Without her voice he was deaf, without her presence standing beside him he was blind, and without her to say something to he was mute. Of course he was beyond grateful that she hadn't died that night, but there's still no telling if she would be the same person she was before all this. Dr. Adreck says that because of the pills that Blaze may have nerve damage and memory loss. The thought of anything that traumatic happening to her scared Mokuba. He'd never let those fears control him. He had to stay strong for her. He loved her.

Mokuba slowly pushed his locker closed with his make-up work in his hand. He and Elektra had been too worried and distraught to go to school on Tuesday, so his teacher, Ms. Silver, had given him his missed work yesterday for him to complete over night. Mokuba's head told him to start walking to class, but his feet remained stationary.

Ever since his parents died, Mokuba couldn't handle the thought of losing someone else that he loved. Until recently, Seto was the only person he loved. But Seto has always been the strong one. At the orphanage, Seto would drive bullies away and keep his spirits up. Even when potential parents came, his big brother stood by him when they wanted to take Seto but not take him, too. When Gozoburo adopted them, something changed in his brother that made his heart as cold as ice. And even though at times he thought Seto was evil, and even when everyone else thought that he was evil, Mokuba stuck by his older brother. He knew that there was still good in Seto, and now it was his turn to protect him. He was the only person Mokuba still loved... until Blaze came around.

Blaze was like Seto when he was younger in a sense. She always made Mokuba smile, and she protected him from bullies like Edward. But Blaze raw as compared to Seto. Blaze didn't really think things through. She just did what first popped in her mind and asked questions later. He admired that. She was fearless and strong and brave; the three things she had forgotten she was when she tried to kill herself.

"Why couldn't I help you?" Mokuba said under his breath.

He has felt extreme guilt for not telling anybody what Gryphon did. Sure it would mean breaking a promise to Blaze, but then maybe at least she wouldn't be lying comatose in bed right now.

"Hey," a small yet clear voice said from behind him.

Mokuba glanced back and saw Marzie standing behind him. "Hey."

"How's Blaze?" Marzie asked, her voice faultering a little.

Yesterday, when the police came in and arrested Gryphon and Mae, of course was asking what was going on. And since Blaze wasn't there, the students starting putting two and two together and came up with the theory that Gryphon and Mae teamed up to kill Blaze. Which they did in a way. Mokuba was the only one who knew the truth, and he decided that the only people who deserved to know would be Jonah, Dante, and Marzie.

Jonah and Dante didn't know Blaze that well, but they were still concerned about her. Marzie, however, the one person everyone thought to be a souless occupant of a human body, broke down and cried her eyes out. If only Blaze could see how much these people cared for her. If only she could see how loved she really is.

"She's doing better, I guess," Mokuba replied.

Marzie nodded. "That's good. Will she be able to come to school soon?"

Mokuba shrugged. "I dunno. The docter says that's she's gonna be out for awhile, and even after that she'll still need sometime to recover."

"You're afraid," Marzie implied after a moment of silence.

He turned to her, both confused and shocked. "What?"

"You're afraid," she repeated, "You're afraid for Blaze."

He sighed and hung is head. Here he is supossed to be strong for her and yet his fear is still visible.

"Do not be ashamed of fear, Mokuba," Marzie said kindly, making him turn to her attention. "Fear gives us an awareness; to say that we should not do this. Your fear for Blaze's safety only speaks that you do not want her to suffer or die. Your fear shows your compassion towards her. It shows that you love her."

Mokuba smirked, bashful of someone knowing his crush on Blaze. "Is it that obvious?"

She shook her head. "No. My sight goes beyond physical means and reads what's inside of you."

Okay that was creepy. Marzette Posa is a strange girl. A nice girl, but still strange. Whatever. Mokuba never judges somebody on how different they are.

Just then the bell rang, meaning that both Marzie and Mokuba had one minute to get to class. They started pacing their way to Ms. Silver's class since it wasn't too far away when Mokuba bumped into somebody who was just comming out of the classroom. He looked up and saw a boy with sleek brown hair and dark eyes. Gryphon.

"You," Gryphon said darkly.

"What the heck are you doing here?!" Mokuba demanded.

Gryphon Coal is supossed to be in Juvy awaiting his court date for Blaze's attempted suicide. Then after that, after he is found guilty, he is supossed to rot in prison for ten to fifteen years for attempted murder.

Gryphon smirked with malice. "I came to get the stuff I had here and to get my school work for this month. Why are you here? I figured that Blaze would want you by her side to keep the monsters under her bed from eating her."

Mokuba grinded his teeth and made fists out of his hands. "You're the only monster I need to protect her from."

At that moment, Dante came running up, late to class as usual, just in time to see the confrontation. He stood beside Marzie just as Mokuba finished his sentence.

"Hey, Marz," Dante whispered, "What's going on? Why's Gryphon here?"

"What do _you_ think's going on, idiot?" Marzie snapped, annoyed by his ignorance.

Gryphon chuckled at Mokuba's response, ignoring Marzie and Dante's conversation. "_I'm_ the monster? Have you_ met _you brother?"

Dante pressed forward to try and attack Gryphon, but Marzie held him back and said, "Don't! It's what he wants you to do."

Meanwhile, Mokuba dug his nails into his palm in rage. First he drives Blaze to kill herself, then he critisizes his own brother?! So badly- He wanted so badly to make Gryphon take those pills in Blaze's place. It's what he deserved, anyways. But he knew that if he retaliated that the teachers would suspend him for fighting, even if it was deserved.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Mokuba retorted in sheer rage. "Because of you, Blaze almost died!"

"Because of _me_?" Gryphon laughed loudly, which was sick that he found humor in this. "I didn't put a gun to Blaze's head and force her to swallow that bottle. Blaze tried to kill herself because she is a stupid, moody, attention whore."

That was it. Mokuba broke away from all his mental restraints and punched Gryphon in the face. Hard. As he backed away and as Gryphon's body fell to the floor motionless, Mokuba couldn't help but feel proud of himself.

He just knocked Gryphon Coal unconscious. Finally. At least there was one thing he and Seto had in common; they can both beat the living shit out of people.

* * *

(_Sorry, but back to Elektra_)

I didn't hardly listen to what Mr. Tokomuro was saying. My mind was scattered all across my thoughts like the missing pieces to a puzzle. All I wanted to do was scoop Blaze up and take the pain away from her. I was so stressed and confused and frightened that I could hardly function. Not to mention that I looked like a complete nutcase today. My hair was frizzy looking, I had dark rings around my eyes from lack of sleep, and my lips were insanely chapped. And I almost fell asleep twice already during today's lesson.

"Okay class," Mr. Tokomuro said, snapping me awake yet again, "That's all I have today, and htere's still about twenty minutes in class so you can talk quietly but keep your voices down. I'm talking to _you _Mr. Wheeler."

Everyone turned to their neighbor while all of my friends crowded around me. I've told them about what happened to Blaze yesterday and they've all been worried sick for us since. It's nice that there's still good left in this world for these people to care about me and Blaze so much. It's amazing how a few friends can make the difference of your depression or recovery.

"So how's Blaze doing?" Tea asked.

I yawned, still barely awake, and replied, "A little better. She should wake up sometime before my birthday."

"Your birthday? When's that?" Tristan asked.

"November eleventh," I answered, smiling at the irony of my birthdate. "I was born on November 11th at 11:11 pm."

"Really?" Tea questioned suspisciously.

I nodded. "I swear."

"Well, are you doing okay?" Yugi asked.

I nodded again. "Just tired."

"Hey, how's about you and me have a duel tomarrah?" Joey inquired. "We can see if you've gotten any bettah at usin' dat Blue Eyes o' yours."

"Uhhh..." The truth was, I had given my Blue Eyes White Dragon to Seto a week ago for his birthday. It was supossed to be a gesture to show how thankful I am to him for letting us live with him and for his (though very vague) kindness.

"What? Did something happen to it?" Yugi asked sounding a little concerned.

"Did that thievin' Kaiba steal it from ya?!" Joey demended, punching the palm of his hand like he was looking for a fight with Seto, or at the very least, a reason to punch him.

"No," I sighed, finding it hard to tell them the truth, "I... um... gave it to him."

Silence.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" They all screamed in unison.

"Shh!" I hushed, not to happy at all the attention being drawn to that outburst.

"Why in the world would you give your Dragon to Kaiba?" Tea questioned.

A blush engulfed my face as I started twiddling my thumbs. "Because I felt that it would be in better care with him. I mean, he likes the game more than I do and he's way more experienced so..."

"-So you thought it would be better to give it to Kaiba," Yugi finished instead of questioned. At least he understands.

"Yes," I answered.

A sly smile grew on Tea's face. I knew what she was thinking. You see, there is this invisible link between girls to where they can mentally know what the other girl is thinking of when she did something rash with a guy involved.

"I think there's more to it than that, fellas," Tea joked, though neither Yugi, Joey, or Tristan could figure out what she was talking about. "It looks to me like Elektra has fallen head-over-heels in love with Kaiba."

They all turned to me, except for Tea who was confident in her Godly ways of crush-detecting. I shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

All of the guys' mouths dropped open in suprise.

"You _like_ Kaiba?!" Joey said like he had been told that the world was ending.

Again I shrugged my shoulders. "Yeah? Is there a problem?"

"Well-"

Tea covered Joey's mouth before he could say anything else. "I think that he's just shocked that someone as nice as you would fall for someone like Kaiba."

"I know," I agreed, "I'm still in shock myself. But there is no mutual feeling with this. Seto doesn't even know that I feel this way. And I'd like it if it was to stay that way."

Joey broke away from Tea and placed his hand over his heart and the other one in the air. "I won't tell nobody. I give ya my word."

Tea cut her eyes at him and crossed her arms. "If only your words could be kept under control when Kaiba's around."

"But Elektra, it isn't fair to keep your feelings to yourself," Yugi said, "Kaiba deserves to know at some point."

"Right, right," I answered as though I was really gonna do that, "Or I could ignore the situation in its entirety and live happily ever after without Seto ever knowing and thus keeping my head attatched to my body."

"Kaiba isn't gonna decapitate you," Tea comforted.

"He might-" Tea jabbed Joey's gut with her elbow when he said that. "Er, I mean, he's not dat mean."

I smirked half-heartidly. Seto hasn't even thanked me yet for the card. In fact, he hasn't even said anything about it. I thought that he would appreciate a gift from the bottom of my heart which also happens to be the most valuable thing I possess and that, according to what Tea said about Kisara, possibly has a remnant of my soul inside of it. Apparently not.

* * *

In the limo on the way home, Mokuba wasn't present. As it would turn out, Seto had been called this morning to come pick him up because he was suspended for a week for knocking Gryphon unconscious in one punch. If he was there, I would have straight up given him a high five for teaching that bastard to mess with Blaze. But Seto already did that.

So it was just me and him in the vehicle today. There has been but one thing I have been wanting to ask him for awhile, and I'm afraid that it may cause something weird to happen between us. But I don't care anymore.

"Hey, Seto?" I asked, sitting straight across from him.

"Hm?"

"Did you like your present?"

Seto, who was on his on his phone at the moment, put it down beside him and neglected to answer for a long time.

"Why did you give me that?" he finally asked.

My heart sank. Something about the way he said it made me feel anxious- not in the good way. "Because I wanted to thank you for everything you've done," I answered, somehow keeping my voice steady even though my heart was racing.

"Thank me for what?"

I stared at him in the eye, confused on how he hadn't seen this before. "You saved me."

"Well, you passed out on the street-"

"No," I interupted, "Back when we were at the orphanage, you saved my soul. Back then, I was angry and scared. I hated the world; I hated everything. Some days I would just curl up and wish to die. But then I met you. You tought me how to be strong and how to love again. You gave me the one thing I needed to keep me going."

"And what was that?" Seto asked.

I smiled and responed, "Hope."

* * *

Chapter 16: Done. I am proud. So, anyways, for those of you who got the mind/puzzle reference up there, congradulations; you won a imaginary cookie.

The next chapter is going to bring back the humor along with two OCs I've been dying to bring out.

That's all for now. Later!


	17. Brother & Sister

Sorry for the wait guys. I used up ALL of my internet data on the 7th and could only get it back on the 21st of every month. What's worse is that my satellite for my T.V. broke two days before I used up my internet and I had to wait DAYS to get a new receiver, which, as it would turn out, wasn't the problematic; it was my cable. So I had to wait DAYS for some stranger to come to my house and fix the cable. And I played and beaten every video game I have, so I've been BEYOND bored. And when I'm bored, I write and draw. Alot. In you guys' case, it is good because you'll get more and longer chapters at once like in the beginning. For me, however, I shall remain bored without music or a working T.V. in my room...

In this chapter, I will be introducing two OCs that have been mentioned before, but never really been introduced. So, it is my honor to welcome you to them! Also, I'd like to announce that there is finally a little comic relief in this chapter to take away from the past four chapters of depression. Enjoy!

Also, before this gets started, there is some religion stuff in here and I don't want anyone to get offended. What Elektra says is also my view on religion, so I'll take responsibility for all those offended. I'd just like for those who are hurt by what is said to remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. No matter what God(s) you believe in, we all come from the same one.

* * *

Strike Down

Seventeen: Brother and Sister

* * *

That was my first true love.

Blaze lay before me, comatose and fragile. She was breathing on her own now, but she still hasn't woken up yet. I brushed her unkept hair out of her face as I had taken her ponytail down a few days ago. It worried me that she was still asleep, but she was strong. Blaze has been through worse before.

I had just got through singing a lullaby I sang to her when we were kids when I decided to leave. Mokuba was staying home today (as he was suspended for knocking out Gryphon Coal yesterday), so at least he would be here for her. She'd like that if she were awake.

I prayed before leaving her, hoping that God may help us in our time of need. Seto says that I'm ignorant to believe in an "all powerful deity". What he doesn't understand is that I respect all religions or (in his case) lack of despite the misleading notion that I am supposed to believe that all who don't believe in God go to Hell. I believe that so long that one is honest and good throughout the majority of their life that they will reach their version of Heaven, and that all those who are evil shall go to their version of Hell. Religion shouldn't forsaken you to demise. Also, I believe that the things written in the Bible are true to a degree. Like, for example, you know how folktales get started, right? Well, the people who wrote the Bible come from an era with little technology or understanding of the world. So, I believe, for example, that Adam and Eve were the first Christians on Earth, not the first two people. And I do not put all of my problems into God's hands for him to judge what to do with me. I only need God's help when I ask for it, and boy do I need it now.

As I made my way out to the limo, I couldn't help but notice that there was no limo. Thankfully, Asagi caught me standing out the door and tried to explain everything.

"Sorry Elektra," Asagi said, "Kaiba took the limo to an important business meeting. He said that I would take you to school today."

"Oh... are you sure? I don't wanna burden you..."

She cut me off with a wave of her hand. "It's not a burden at all. Between you and me, I'd rather be driving away from here than driving _to _here."

I knew Asagi hated her job, but that's mostly because she's a lazy party girl. I mean, we're friends and all but I still think she's a little immature. Then again, who am I to talk? I still wear footsie pajamas and I still have my stuffed bear, Tagesanbruch, somewhere in my duffel bag.

We walked over to Asagi's car, a grey Corolla, and got inside. The first thing I noticed was that the car smelled like candy. Not like any specific candy but imagine stepping into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and that would be the smell. Also, there was random crap EVERYWHERE. The kinda random crap you would see in like a gas station. Seriously, all around me I saw dirty clothes, candy wrappers, (unused) tampons, old 90s CDs, and a hairdryer. It was like someone reached down Miley Cyrus's throat and took a handful out of all the things she's probably had in her mouth. Only it smelled better than one would imagine.

"God do you live in here?" I asked her.

"No. If God lived in here I'd be the one ordering Kaiba around," Asagi answered sarcastically.

I cut my eyes at her. "Mean yet true."

She grinned at my response.

I sat in the front passenger seat as she started the car. Or, at least, she tried to start the car. She cursed and tried again. Nothing.

"C'mon Bitch!" She looked up at me and laughed. "Sorry, I named my car Bitch 'cause it takes forever to start."

I shrugged. "I once had an imaginary friend named Butter George. So... I've heard weirder names."

"Butter George?"

"Yyyyeahhhhh... The thing was, when I imagined him, he was a rock with googley eyes."

She stopped trying to start the car and held her head in her hands in an attempt to keep from laughing. "You had an imaginary friend named Butter George, and with _all_ of your vast imagination, you decided to make him a rock with googley eyes?"

"I had a lonely childhood!" I defended, making an ugly face which finally made her burst out laughing. She tried to comment, but her words were over taken by her laughter and my own. Asagi all together just decided to give up on what she was going to say and was finally able to get the car running.

As soon as the car turned on, so did the radio. And it was LOUD. Though I'm used to it by now; I've been to enough heavy metal/rock concerts to hear the familiar ringing in my ears despite my use of ear plugs. But the thing was, it was death metal which is heavier than heavy metal, involves losts of screaming, and a lot of ear-piercingly loud instruments. I'll listen to a little every now and again, but death metal isn't that great because you'd have to look up what the lyrics were because you can't understand the singer, and when you look up the lyrics you'll regret that you did. For example: I once looked up the lyrics to a death metal song and found out that the entire song was about ripping out the fetuses out of whores' uderuses and eating them. I never listened to that song again.

"Sorry!" Asagi apologized as she turned down the volume and as I removed my fingers from my ears. "My boyfriend used my car yesterday and I didn't use the radio this morning."

"It's okay," I answered a little too loudly as my ears were still ringing from the intense volume.

Asagi pulled out of the driveway and out of the gates onto the street as I flipped through the stations to see if anything good was on this early other than talkshows. I heard all kinds of things that I skipped through- hispanic music, calypso, extreme death metal, rap, electric, ext. Then I landed on this one station that started playing the beginning to a song almost everybody knows, and I just had to sing it. Apparently, great minds think alike because I found Asagi singing along in unison with me.

"_Makin' my way downtown_

_Walkin' fast_

_faces passed_

_And I'm home bound_

_Starin' blankly ahead_

_Just makin' my way_

_Makin' my way through the crowd_

_And I need you..._

_And I miss you..._

_And now I wonder..._

_If I could fall, into the sky_

_Do you think time would pass me by?_

_'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles to see you_

_Tonight._"

We just busted out laughing. If you had ever seen White Chicks, then you know what song that is. And if you have seen that movie and heard this song on the radio and not done the whole hand signals thing with it, then you need to.

"That's the most in sync I've ever sang that with somebody," Asagi laughed.

I had my arms wrapped around my sides in a futile attempt to keep them from hurting and replied, "I know right."

After I wiped away a few tears and finally stopped giggling, I changed the station that played music I wouldn't die laughing to. A few minutes later, Asagi pulled up in front of the school and let me out. It felt so weird to be here alone. At first I came here with Blaze, then her and Mokuba, then just Mokuba, and now it's just me. I mean, Tea, Yugi, Bakura, Tristan, and Joey are all my friends but I just felt more comfortable with people I know better.

It's times like this that I wished that Raileth, Twyla, or Terrance were here. I only get to really see Raileth on weekends when I'm at work, and we get to take solice in the fact that we're not alone in the world. You see, after me, Blaze, Raileth, Twyla, and Terrance escaped Germany, me and Blaze got seperated from the group at the docks and we somehow made our way to Domino City, which was all the way up in Northern California. By the time we got there, we were weak and starving so it was very easy for the police to take us to the orphanage. Then after Seto and Mokuba got adopted, Blaze's father, Franchesco, was released and came back for Blaze. On the night before he was to take her away, we snuck out and ran away back to the East Coast where we saw Raileth, Twyla, and Terrance again by some miracle. We stayed together for awhile until things started happening between me and Terrance that forced us to go our seperate ways.

The thing was, I had Blaze, Twyla had her big brother, and Raileth was alone. I don't think that any of us ever found out who Raileth's parents were, and she had no known siblings or any other family. So she's always had to be with one of us because if she didn't, she'd crack under her own anxiety and go nuts. Something happened to her a long time ago that is not in my right to reveal. And that one thing has given her serious anxiety problems. If Raileth ever gets insanely scared, she'll either pass out or have a heart attack. So when we separated, she chose to go with me and Blaze.

Twyla and Terrance, on the other hand, will always have each other. Terrance is Twyla's older brother and one year older than her and two years older than me; the same age as Raileth. He's quiet and loving, I guess I could say, though I feel a slight pang of guilt in my heart when I remembered how kind he was. Twyla is a blonde ball of energy. She's always perky and dorky and isn't afraid to speak her mind whenever she wants. And she's loyal. If you want her to go kick some ass then she will go kick some ass without question. She aspires to be a magician one day, which is ironic if you know what I know, while Terrance kinda just goes with the flow like each day was his last. In his case, each day may really be his last. Again, it's not my place to give out his very personal information.

I miss them. I miss them so very much.

I walked out into the front of the school where a small group of kids were huddled around something on the ground. As I made my way towards the circle, I saw Tea and Joey staring at whatever it was as well.

"Hey," I called from behind them, "What're you guys looking at?"

"It's weird," Tea responded, "Someone left their backpack smack-dab in the middle of the sidewalk and it's been _moving_."

"Moving?" I repeated, unsure of what was going on but still help some grasp of a very unreliable guess of what was happening.

"Take a look fah yaself," Joey implied, moving away so I could get a look.

I peeked in through the crowd and saw a faded lavender backpack with pink and blue stickers on it. The two straps were made from light blue and pastel pink ropes and had a "I heart Sleeping With Sirens" button on the top flap. As I stood there for a second, the backpack twitched, startling all those around it. Even me.

Just then, a long yawn came from the backpack along with a slender, peach, human arm which came out of the top. Another hand reached up and stretched with another yawn. Everyone except for me (who knew exactly what was going on) backed away in fear as a human head and chest rose up from inside the backpack with blonde hair with purple and pink highlights and emerald green eyes. She rubbed her eyes, still half asleep and in her pajamas.

"Wake-y wake-y Twyla," I greeted my old friend.

Twyla's eyes went wide at the sight of me. "Holy cats! I haven't seen you in years Elektra!" She looked like she was about to hug me until she realized the predicament she was in. "Dang. There are alot of people staring at me."

"And?" I persisted.

"And some of them are really cute guys."

"And?"

She looked down at her lower body. "And I am still in my pajamas. Hang on a minute."

Twyla retreated back into her backpack and closed the top flap. The backpack started rattling as loud sounds of footfall and crashing were heard coming from it. Then the noises changed to the sound of water running as bubbles emenated from the top of the bag. A few seconds later, and we could hear the crashing of delicate items and footsteps, and then it went quiet.

Not long after, Twyla popped straight out of the bag, fully intact, and posed in her new school uniform. "Ta-doosh!"

"Ta-doosh?" Tea questioned from the ground were she, Joey, and several others had fallen in surprise. All except for me, who was used to her antics by now.

"Yeah," Twyla answered. "'Cause ta-da is _so_ over used these days." Then she turned and bear hugged me with all her might, which, for a girl her build, was incredibly powerful. "And I haven't seen you for almost four years!"

I hugged her back and replied, "Yeah, I know. Hey, if you're here then Terrance-"

She held me back with a sorrowful look; a look rarely seen coming from her. Instantly, I feared the worst.

"Is... is he dead?"

Twyla grinned slightly and replied, "No. Nothing like that. I was just thinking of the times when you two were... y'know..."

I nodded. "I know. But, is he here?"

She nodded as well. "Yeah. We're living Raileth in our very own house now. It's small and needs work, but it's a real house!"

I smiled contently. Technically, since they lived in the dungeon, I was only one out of us five to actually ever live in a real house. It was good that they could scrounge up enough money to do that, especially for Raileth. Blaze and I never lived with Raileth for two reasons. One: she's eighteen and has her own life. Two: we'd stress her out to much and cause her to have constant panic attacks. Of course Twyla wasn't easy to handle but Terrance has an incredibly stable fortress of a mind, so he could hold sovereignty over the house and keep everything from being helter-skelter.

"So how're you and Blaze doing?"

My once good mood faded with that question. Instatnly, Twyla knew something was wrong.

She stepped back with her hand to her mouth. "Oh no... did something happen?"

I nodded. Twyla took out a sheet of scrap paper from thin air and gave it to me. I looked down at the sheet and saw the Venus and Mars sign next to two sets of rows of numbers.

"What's this?"

"It's my and Terrance's phone numbers. You can call or text us if you wanna talk about it. I'm just nosey, but Terrance could probably help you more. He's a good listener- not like I need to remind _you_ of all people!"

I chuckled lightly. "True."

Behind me, Tea and Joey had brushed off as the other spectators left after a lack of unexplainable happenings. God, it's like some people have the attention span of a squirrel.

"Oh, are you two friends of Elektra?" Twyla asked, open to new friends like she always has been.

They nodded. "I'm Tea Gardner, and this is Joey."

Joey held out his hand to her and greeted, "Nice ta meetcha! Any friend-a Elektra's is a friend-a mine!"

Twyla jumped in and shook his hand while shaking him a little as well. Seriously, that girl is strong sometimes. "Nice to meet ya Joey!"

Joey retracted his hand in agony, though despite his pain he still braved a smile for Twyla. "Damn. For a girl you really got some power in dat grip o' your's."

She giggled. "Thanks!"

After a brief and trivial conversation about Twyla's personal life, the five minute-bell rang signaling for us to start moving. I was almost to the door when Twyla bumped my elbow with hers.

"Hey," she said, "That Joey guy is really cute, don't you think?"

"I've kinda got my eye on someone else right now."

* * *

(_Switching to Seto_)

"... And then you need to- Mr. Kaiba!"

Seto snapped awake at the harsh tone of Aria's voice. His secretary, a thin woman with light brown hair and sharp features, looked him down with narrow eyes full of resentment. Aria was one of the few people in the world who could order Seto Kaiba around and get away with it.

"Sorry," Seto apologized in a stable tone, "I've just been having some trouble sleeping is all."

Aria pushed her glasses in situ and glared at Seto. "What exactly _troubles_ you, Sir? Nineteen years and now you finally feel the longing of company?"

This time, he returned with a stinging impatientness in his answer. "I've been having strange dreams for your information Ms. Hanson. And I'd think it would be best if my buisness was kept as my business."

Aria turned and left the room in a huff, leaving Seto alone with a mountain of paperwork before him. He groaned and leaned back in his chair. In a dire need for a reason to procrastonate, he started to think about his strange dreams.

At first he though it was due to the stress he was bearing at home. With Blaze having almost killed herself and his little brother suspended for a week for fighting and with Elektra's gift to him making him re-revaluate his life choices, and with the stress of running his own multi-billion dollar company, he was a snap away from being thrown in a white padded room. But the fact that it was a recurring dream is what intrigued him.

Ever since Elektra came back into his life, he would have strange nightmares about her jumping in front of him to block some sort of blast of energy. Only the Elektra in his dreams had paler skin and wore a potato sack-dress all the time. After she moved in with him, the dreams stopped coming, but after Blaze tried to kill herself they returned with avengence. It was like there was a nagging voice in his head constantly saying for him to always protect Elektra.

Feeling a familiar pang of guilt in his heart, Seto pulled out his four Blue Eyes White Dragon cards from his ever-so-present deck and laid them across his desk. It was easy to pick out which one Elektra had given him; her's was the only card to have a sliver border around the picture, obviously something Pegasus wanted to do to make it extra special. With all the other cards, Seto only felt guilty until he held the card in his hands. But with Elektra, he couldn't help but weigh heavy with guilt. Was it that it came from her or was it that she gave it to him willfully? Whichever reason, Seto still felt unworthy of the new Blue Eyes. He hasn't even thanked her yet...

Not to mention that it's a week away from Elektra's birthday (as foretold by a certain little brother) and Seto hasn't gotten her anything yet. Nor could he think of anything to compare to his present from her. The significance of her present should be the same as his. If only he knew what to get her.

* * *

(_And back to Elektra_)

The school day went by fast. Unfortunately, Twyla doesn't have the same class as me, but at least she has the same as Bakura, so at least I can trust him with her care. I mean, I've only had two decent conversations with him non-via text message, but he seemed like a good guy.

After school, I met up with Twyla and Tea in front of their lockers. The guys were nice and all, but there are certain things girls cannot discuss with guys, and plus all that testosterone makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

"...But I thought that- Oh hey Ella!" Twyla said as I walked up.

"Hey," I replied, "You two coming or do you wanna spend the night here?"

"Oh heck no," Tea protested.

"Oh C'mon! It would be fun!" Twyla persisted.

Tea shook her head distastefully. "Nuh-uh. This place is probably haunted by some old teacher's ghost or something."

"But _that's_ the fun part!" Twyla beamed cheerfully. "And if anything goes wrong, we could just sacrifice Elektra to the ghost as a peace offering."

"What the-?! Why me?!" I demanded.

"'Cause aside from Ray-Ray, you're the most innocent outta all of us," Twyla elaborated, "The ghosts would be more humbled by the soul of purity."

"The hell are you talking about?" I said with indifference rolling off my tongue.

She smiled widely, exposing her pearly teeth. "You're not completely obsessed with the paranormal and black magic like me, you're not anxious like Raileth, you're not stern like mt brother, and you're not as violent as Blaze."

"So what am I like?" I asked.

She shrugged. "You're asking the wrong person, Doodlebug."

Doodlebug was my nickname growing up, aside from my other nickname, Ella. People used to call me that because I drew on anything so long as I had some writing utensil in my hand. I still do, but it's more controled now.

Tea peeked around us and looked outside which was visible thanks to the transparent glass doors. "Hey, who're Yugi and Bakura talking to?"

Twyla and I spun around only to see Bakura and Yugi turned away from us and under a shady tree. I almost couldn't even tell that they were talking to somebody until I saw the tip of someone's head and their black sneakers. Judging by the light grey-brown hair, which was just barely tinted and hard to notice from afar, I instantly knew who it was.

I left Tea and Twyla and pushed open the doors, numb to everything happening around me. Whether the birds were singing, the sky was falling, or kids were fighting, I didn't care. All that I could think at that moment was a blank void. The void he had left when we split up. He, this person they were talking to, was my old flame. That was my first true love.

I brushed Yugi's shoulder as I finally made my way to him. At eighteen, Terrance Caster remained the handsome young man I remembered him as four years ago; back when we started dating. When he saw me, Terrance's smile he had like he had been laughing faltered, then a new smile, one of true love, took its place as his bright crystal-blue eyes shimmered in the light.

"Hey Elektra," Terrance greeted.

I couldn't respond verbally, so I just wrapped my arms tightly around him and held on to the bitter-sweet reappearance of my ex-boyfriend.

He placed his hands on my waist on bowed his forehead on my crown. "I missed you, too."

Meanwhile, Bakura and Yugi stood there awkwardly as Twyla and Tea soon did the same as they caught up to us. Not that I cared about an audience. All that mattered to me was that I was back in Terrance's arms. Then I remembered that I wasn't twelve or thirteen anymore. I wasn't his girlfriend anymore. And I never could be. I released by grip and backed away.

"...Sorry, I got a little excited there," I said, brushing my long bangs back behind my ear.

He grinned.

"So... I'm guessing that you two know each other, right?" Yugi asked.

Now feeling slightly embarrassed, I turned around to my peers, somehow keeping myself from blushing. "Well... considering that he used to be my boyfriend, then yeah."

All of their jaws dropped, except for Twyla who was already familiar with the situation.

"You mean that... does Kaiba know about this?" Bakura questioned.

"No," I answered. "Why would Seto need to know about this?"

"Because he's been standing over by the gates and has been watching you the entire time," he answered.

I looked passed the four of them and saw Seto's lean figure leaning against the wall with a look that one might judge as impatience, but when truly evaluated it would obviously be marked as jealousy. The gates were only about eight yards away, so he heard and saw everything.

"Who's he?" Terrance asked, gaining a stinging pitch in his voice that signaled his desire to protect me at all costs.

I grabbed his jacket sleeve and whispered, "That's the guy I'm living with. He's a CEO and an old friend of mine so don't piss him off."

Terrance turned to me looking very unsure about my decisions. "Elektra... I don't think that-"

"Oh blah-blah-blah-blah-blah!" Twyla interrupted, swinging one shoulder around her taller older brother. "Terry, my dear, wouldja just let Elektra make her own decisions for once?"

He rolled his eyes. "Says my sister whom never lets me choose my own character in Mortal Kombat."

I started walking backwards to Seto while waving to them. "Gotta go! I'll talk to you later Terrance!"

He casually waved back as Seto and I turned the corner to his white 2012 Camaro. As soon as I buckled up in the passenger seat, he slammed the door and glared at me with icy eyes full of contempt.

With anyone else, I would have felt threatened. "What?"

"Who is he?" Seto demanded in a level voice.

"My ex-boyfriend," I answered honestly.

He put the car into gear as he pulled away from the sidewalk. "From how long ago?"

"That's my business and mine alone," I snapped.

"Fine."

"Fine."

I looked out the window and was instantly bored of the silence. I reached over to turn on the radio, hesitating for a second before I looked up to see if Seto cared if I listened to the radio or not. Sometimes he's lenient, sometimes he's not. His eyes were focused in front of him as he concentrated on driving, but I knew almost better than anyone (less than probably Mokuba if anyone) how well Seto's perifrial vision is. I looked back and forth between him and the radio several times, waiting for him to say something. Silence. I finally focused my attention and just had my finger on the dial when he stopped me.

"Don't."

I turned it on anyways.

Suddenly, I heard him inhale deeply, which frightened me beyond words. I backed away into the far corner of my seat, huddled up in preparation of a massive explosion. Probably an explosion large enough to destroy life as we know it. But as I waited a few seconds, I realized that by some miracle that I was still alive. He didn't do anything. He didn't even exhale.

As the radio continued playing "Burn", I began to ease a little yet still cautious of the seething rage probably boiling inside of him. His stare quickly turned from the road to me, making me jump, but then they were averted back on the road.

"You don't have to be afraid of me," he said blankly.

"Easier said than done," I commented, seeing a smirk grow on his face.

I went back to the radio and flipped through the stations until I heard a decent song; basically any rock song ever that didn't sound like it was written by stoned writers. I found one station that played a really annoying internet song, but judging by the look on Seto's face it would be the last thing I would ever hear. I quickly tuned in to some random station when I heard something promising.

"_The world is a vampire_"

I gasped in disbelief that they were playing an awesome song that old on the radio. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is one of my personal favorites, so much that I didn't care that Seto liked it or not. I cranked it up and shut my eyes as I pictured the music video just how I remembered it. My head rocked back and forth slightly as I shut my eyes and began to mutter the lyrics with perfect accuracy. With music, I am able to drown myself in the sound and forget all my troubles. Sure, I'm not as good as a singer as Blaze nor do I think that I'm good at it at all, but that never stops me from singing whenever the hell I want.

By the time the song was over and I opened my eyes, I realized that we were already home and the radio was off. I turned and saw Seto pull his keys out with a big grin on his face.

"What're you smiling at?" I asked.

"You kept singing that song even after I turned the radio off," Seto answered, "And you got all the lyrics right and you actually sang it well."

Compliments? Has the world just taken some bath salts to mind-trip me or was he actually being nice? "How would you know the exact lyrics?"

"What? Just because I'm a egotistical CEO means that I can't like music, too?"

I don't know why I ever did this, but I leaned sideways and kissed him on the cheek. Then I said, "I just didn't think it was good music."

Then I jumped out of the car before he could do anything. It was very rude and immature, yes, but I did not feel like being lectured or dead today. I finally did what my heart has been telling me to do. Maybe now it will shut up.

* * *

Okay, no I don't own that song. Quite frankly, if anyone out there thinks that I own that song, I question your intelligence. For those of you who don't know what song that is, you can look it up or watch White Chicks. Also, to whoever does own that song, Please, PLEASE for the love of God don't sue me. You will gain nothing but a child's crushed hope to share this story to those who may want to read. Seriously, I own nothing. I don't even have an iPhone.

Lemme put this into perspective for you: My crap-ass phone has chocolate in it. Duck tape holds my floor together. My air conditioner goes out in the summer, and my heater goes out in the winter. I was once thrown from the detached hood of a car during one of the rare times it snows in my city while my father was driving me around with the hood attached to an ATV. My front porch has a windchime made of beer cans. My family is very not rich. Lawyers, you will gain nothing. Unless of course you wanna be thrown from an ATV while holding a beerchime.

About the fetus-eating metal song, it actually exists. While I was in Junior High I had this friend who had an emo/goth cousin and they told me about it but I never looked it up because for one: it scared me, and two: I forgot the name. I also got the calling Asagi's Carolla "Bitch" from one of my friends who calls her E-Reader a Bitch when she can't load stuff from Wattpad.

Aside from my life which you guys probably care nothing about, Twyla and Terrance will become very important later on, though they're not going to really let it show for some time.

So, anyways, Later!

Wanna see what Twyla looks like? Address on my profile.


	18. Voices That Sang the Lullaby

The following chapter talks a bit about Elektra's mother (her name is Anna by the way, and it's pronounced like the Disney princess's name), though you won't find out what happened to her for some time. Though if you have read this story thuroughly then you would have known that I described Anna in one of Elektra's nightmares as being cut in half, so you already know that she died in a very horrible way. That's all for now.

* * *

Strike Down

Eighteen: Voices that Sang the Lullaby

* * *

Her eyes opened.

"Softly stir in your content

God blessed me with this gift

Now I lay you down to sleep

And sink deep in a sea of peace"

My mother's words jolted me awake in terror. She can't be here- she can't be anywhere. She has been dead for many years. She can't be here.

My heart was racing and my eyes darted all around the room looking for a shadow or some sign of a paranormal entity residing near me, ready to rip my soul from my body. In retrospect, that now seems really stupid of me to say considering the fact that my mother would never harm me. And plus the fact that Seto would scare away any ghosts if they came near.

Still, I had just heard my mother's voice sing me my old lullaby from thin air. Maybe I was dreaming, or maybe I was just stressing too much. Perhaps I had just gone crazy. Not that it was news to me. I've always figured that I've been a little different. I have white hair for one thing, and I learn other languages fairly easily. Also, I have never been afraid of animals of any kind, not even snakes or spiders. Back when other kids would pick on me, I would go out and find spiders or some other misunderstood animal and keep it close to me as a way to scare off the bullies. That's probably explains my taste for creepy things now; I've just felt more protected by what other humans fear. Maybe that explains my infatuation with Seto, too.

Sleep wasn't an option at this time. I looked over at my owl-themed clock and saw that it was 1:00 in the morning. I fell asleep at around eight so that gives me about five hours of sleep. Eh, good enough.

I stretched and stepped out of the bed not giving a crap that I was still in my pajamas. It was basically my house and so long as I'm not streaking butt-naked or wearing anything provacative why should anyone care? Anyways, I started to make my way downstairs for a snack. Food always makes people feel better, so maybe if I eat something I'll stop hearing my deceased mother's lullaby tonight. Wow. If you had read that outta context, it would have seemed very crazy.

* * *

(_Switching the perspective_)

Even though coffee was Seto's drive when he's exhausted beyond words, it really was not helping now. It was sometime past midnight and he was still barely awake with dozens of charts and graphs and other buisness affairs still awaiting his attention on his laptop. He rested his head in his hand with his elbow on the table. Sleep was calling him. Maybe just two minutes...

But as soon as he closed his eyes, he saw a girl with silvery-white hair clentching her chest in agony, almost not being able to stand upright. She had tears running from her shining blue eyes and was pleading for Seto to save her.

"Please..." she begged, "P-please Seto... M-my heart..."

He jolted awake immediantly. The girl was gone, he was in his dining room, but he couldn't shake the anxiety that came after his night terrors. That girl looked so much like Elektra but Seto knew better. He had seen that girl long ago. Her name was Kisara.

Based on what he saw (illusion or not), the internet, and Yugi and Ishizu's descriptions, Kisara was the girl who became the Blue Eyes White Dragon after sheilding his incarnate from a deadly blast of energy that came from his (the incarnate's) father. Tea, being girl and more aware of the feminiscity of situations, told him that Kisara and his incarnate were in love and that maybe since Atem was reborn into Yugi, Isis was reborn into Ishizu, Theif Bakura reborn into Bakura, and Priest Seto reborn as himself, that maybe Kisara would be reborn in this life.

Pfft. Yeah right.

The closest person to Kisara that Seto knows of is Elektra, and they even have differences. Physically, Elektra is tanner than Kisara, who was paper-white almost. Personality-wise Elektra is more voulgar, abrassive, and brave than Kisara. Then again, not everyone is the exact same as their "past lives". Like Yugi and Atem for example. Atem, like Seto's incarnate, was very tan was taller than Yugi. Also, Atem is much more brave than Yugi. So maybe Elektra is Kisara...

Seto shook his head in disappointment with himself. He was nineteen now; he shouldn't believe in stupid fairy tales anymore. Even if what happened in Egypt was real, that wasn't his concern. He was living _this _life. More importantly, he was living this life with Elektra. Not Kisara.

Before he could fall back asleep, Seto heard a commotion going on in the kitchen. _Who the hell is up at this hour?_ he thought. Before he could get up to investigate, he saw a familiar figure pass by the open door, too preocupied to notice him.

"Elektra?" Seto called.

She backed up and looked out from the wall. "Oh. Mornin' Seto!"

"Barely," he replied, "Don't you know it's one in the morning?"

"That's why I said 'Mornin' Seto!' when I saw you, dummy," Elektra said as she walked over and sat across from him with a bowl full of packaged chips, candy, and a can of soda.

"Why are you up this late?" Seto yawned, still craving to pass out from fatigue.

"I had a bad dream," she responded, "And I'm a serious morning person so I just figured that I'll stay up for a little while until I feel sleepy again."

Seto glanced down at her horde of food. "Judging by the amount of carbohydrates in your pile I'd say that you're going to have an extreme sugar rush and then crash within two hours."

She smiled and replied, "That's the plan."

"What was your dream about?"

Elektra averted her head to her lap. "My mother."

"Was she like your father?" Seto questioned, remembering what Elektra had said about her serial killer of a father.

She shook her head. "Mother was kind and gentle. She wouldn't hurt a fly." She paused for a little bit then continued. "She died when I was very young."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Seto... stop."

He didn't try to push any further. Elektra's past was her own and maybe one day she'll open up to him if she feels comfortable enough. It wasn't like he didn't have anything to hide himself.

Eager to turn the conversation around, Seto remembered that her birthday was in a few days. Even though he had the money to get her anything she's ever wanted, he still had no idea what to give her. Being a male and having little experience with the opposite sex, Seto didn't even know what feminine things to get her as a default. All he knew basically was that girls like the color pink, high heels, clothes, and once a month they become possessed and bleed from strange places.

"Hey, um," Seto asked trying as hard as he can to sound open and friendly, "this may seem outta the blue, but what is something you've always wanted to do?"

Her face lit up as she replied, "To go to a Nirvana concert."

Of the very few things that he can't do, bringing back a dead rockstar is one of them. "Anything else?"

Elektra thought about it then replied gleefully, "Make a Disney movie."

Copyrighted. Out of the question. "Okay... What is your favorite animal?" he asked, now willing to buy a pet for her; a pet that will run around his house and probably pee everywhere. Hey, he was getting desperate.

Her eyes went wide and she seemed to be containing great joy. Maybe now she'll give him something to work with. "A Wolfowlachu!"

"A _what_?" Seto questioned.

"A Wolfowlachu is a wolf plus an owl plus a Pikachu," Elektra elaborated.

Okay, is she purposely picking all the things he simply cannot do because he is not some all-powerful god just to screw with him? No, she seemed pretty honest in her answers, and Elektra isn't the one who likes to mess with people- that would be Blaze who is still comatose in bed. But how in the world is he expected to somehow make a Wolfowlachu?

"What is it that you like to do?" he asked, now taking a new approach.

"Um, draw," Elektra answered.

"I figured that you would have chosen singing."

Elektra shrugged. "I'm better as a visual artist instead of a performing artist. But I still like music all the same. I even knew how to play guitar and violin."

Okay. So she likes art and music. Well, that's a start. "Does anything else intrest you?"

"Video games," she said. "Mostly horror games. None of that Mario crap."

Progress, this is good progress. But it was very little to work with still. Art, music, and video games? He wanted her present to be special, or at least something equal to his Blue Eyes White Dragon card. What was he supposed to find as impressive with her intrests? A box of crayons, some rock genre CD of a group she may or may not like as time passes, and some repetitive zombie game? Those were things thay anyone could get her; things that Yugi, Wheeler, or that guy she was hugging on yesterday could get her.

Speaking of which, how close were Elektra and this ex-boyfriend of her's? Why did he just pop up outta no where? Thinking about that guy made Seto's heart burn with jealousy and malice. Elektra deserved someone much better than that guy. Even though Seto hardly knew the guy, that didn't mean that his judgement was any less off. Something deep inside of his just knew that Elektra would never be that guy's girlfriend again. Because Seto wanted her to be his.

The importance of this gift was based on Seto's notion that a material object would help Elektra see that he cared for her more than anything in the world. He would never admit this but Seto is afraid to express his love to Elektra. He didn't know why he was afraid, he just thought that admitting love to someone was a sign of weakness. Seto Kaiba is many things, but weak is not one of them.

Also, if any of his ample amount of enemies were to learn of Elektra being close to him, they may use her as levrege just like his little brother. The only person he has ever shown affection to would be Mokuba, but he's blood so he's stuck with him until the end. Elektra doesn't have to suffer the consequences of his life, though. She can move on from him and live a normal life. So is it selfish to trap her in a life of tabloids and insecurity just for his personal desire to forever be in her company? He felt that he was going insane. His heart craved for him to be with Elektra, but his mind was still trying to organize his scrambled thoughts.

"Seto?" Elektra asked, interupting his thoughts. "You seem a bit unfocused, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he lied. "Just tired."

"So why don't you sleep?"

Seto laughed lightly. "According to what people say, I'm a creature of the night so I can only sleep during the day."

Elektra laughed as she opened her soda can. "Still..."

"I'm doing work," Seto responed.

"Pfft. You're a CEO. You people along with religious and world leaders literally rule the ground we walk on. You're at the top of the world ladder, can't you just hold it off or something?"

Seto shook his head. "Not really. I can get away with a little bit, but I'll eventually have to either make it up or pay for it. You see, being a CEO or president or king or whatever is like a building. And what do you make buildings with?"

"Bricks?"

"Right. And how many bricks does it take to build a large company building?"

She thought for a moment. "You mean like KaibaCorp?"

"Yes."

"Alot."

He smiled. "Right, alot. And if you're at the top of the building and a brick falls out from the bottom, what happens?"

"Nothing," she answered.

"But what happens if a lot of bricks fall out?"

"The building would fall apart."

"So if I let all of the bricks below me fall out, then I will collapse unless I keep a solid foundation," Seto finished.

"Oh," Elektra commented, looking away like she felt stupid for not knowing this before. "Must be stressful."

Seto cut his eyes at her in slight annoyance. "Yeah-huh."

She face palmed. "Oh, God I'm stupid."

"No you're not," Seto defended, "You're a very intelligent person and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Elektra seemed shocked that Seto would defend her from herself. It was like she was expecting for him to agree with her. But he could never find enough evil in his heart to ever do harm to her. He loved her.

"Elektra, I-"

Just then, a loud boom came from the distance along with a shake of the ground and the electricity going out. At first, Seto thought it was an earthquake, but the movement of the ground ceased after only a few seconds, and wasn't that strong. Something was very wrong.

"Elektra," Seto called only barely being able to see her grasping onto the dinner table by the dim light of his computer.

"I'm fine," she answered. "Whatta 'bout you?"

"Still in one piece," he said.

"What the hell was that?"

Seto shrugged. "I have no idea."

* * *

(Elektra's POV)

I had no idea what was happening and I was frightened greatly. Loud booms are never good unless it comes from fireworks or... nah just fireworks. Despite my initial curiosity of what was happening, I had one thing I needed to check on first.

I turned to Seto. "Blaze."

He nodded. "And Mokuba."

We raced up the stairs in a hurry to make sure that our siblings were safe. They were our world, and we'd do anything for them. It was hard to move up the stairs with no light, but luckily for Seto he had memorize his house like the back of his hand and luckily for me he held me close to him and didn't go too fast and make me trip.

Immediantly we saw a faint light come from Blaze's room so we went there first. Dear God let her be okay. As Seto gingerly opened the door, we saw Mokuba standing at Blaze's bedside with a flashlight in his hand. He jumped when he saw us.

"Dear God you scared me," Mokuba said.

Seto rushed over to his little brother and knelt down to his level. "Mokuba, are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Any bruises, cuts, anything?"

"No," he answered a little annoyed this time while rolling his eyes.

I couldn't believe it. I never thought that I would ever see Seto Kaiba be concerned about anyone that much. He does truly love his little brother. I knew there was some good still in him.

I focused my attention to my little sibling. Blaze laid so still in bed that she could almost be mistaken for a statue. I brushed my head over her cheek. She was so warm, and she was breathing normally. At least she's okay. If only she would wake up.

"Hey Mokuba?" I asked, turning my attention towards the guys, "What are you doing in here anyways?"

"Oh, I heard the explosion or whatever it was and came to check and see if Blaze was okay," he answered, probably blushing but it was too dark to tell.

I smiled, humbled by his concern for my sister. "Thank you."

After a spell of silence, Seto broke the quiet streak. "I'll go get some more light and try to find out what's going on."

He left me and Mokuba alone with only one flashlight acting as our only source of light. We both pulled out the two bean bags and waited for Seto to return.

"So..." Mokuba inquired while flipping his flashlight in his hands. "What was that lullaby that you always sing to Blaze?"

"You heard me?"

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah, sorry if it embarasses you. I don't mean to pry."

I smiled warmly. "Don't worry about it. I don't mind. That lullaby is one that my mother sang to me when I was little, and I would sing it to Blaze when we were little to help her go to sleep."

"Could you sing it?" he asked.

I was relunctant to answer. It was a song sacred to me and my mother and Blaze. Whenever I sing it, I can't help but picture my loving mother's face when she would lull me to sleep. Through all the people dying and screaming in pain down in the dungeon, I would only listen to my mother. She helped me survive through all those years, even after she was murdered.

"Sure," I complied. I shut my eyes trying to remember the lyrics.

"Softly stir in your content

God blessed me with this gift

Now I lay you down to sleep

And sink deep in a sea of peace"

"Angels sway

And take you away

I still remain

Forever I stay"

"Breating slowly now

I still wonder how

My darling gift was stolen

And left my heart bent and broken"

"I will stay

No matter how far away

By your side

Because you are two of a kind"

That song broke my heart everytime I sang it. It was a song passed down from many generations ago to my mother who passed it down to me. It was about a mother who had twins but one of the twins died at birth and the mother swore to always love the surviving child while still loving the dead one. Mother told me that it was a common thing to happen to women in the past who didn't have the care we have in the modern world, so it would happen to our passed relatives.

I turned towards my audience of one, but he seemed to be in a trance. Mokuba looked like he was staring at me, but his eyes were focused on something going on behind me.

"What?" I questioned. He didn't answer. I snapped my fingers, gaining his attention. "Hey. Earth to Mokuba, do you read?"

"Sorry, I just coulda sworn..."

"What?"

He shook his head in disbelief. "I coulda just swore that I saw Blaze's eyes open."

I spun back around, but Blaze still lay in bed, unmoving. Still something inside of me was telling me that something was different. Was Blaze alright? I stood up and checked to see if her forehead was hot. It was just fine. I placed my finger below her nose and checker breathing. Also normal. Then I saw a small twitch right below her eyebrow. It may have just been nerves, but I had a feeling that it wasn't.

"Blaze?" I muttered almost inaudibly.

Her eyebrow twitched in response. C'mon Blaze. If you got something to do then do it.

"Blaze," I said in a clearer tone.

This time, something incredible happened. Her eyes opened. Blaze was awake. Words cannot and will not ever be able to describe how elated I was that she was finally concious. Mokuba rushed up next to me after he heard my quiet sobbing. Neither of us could stop smiling. Blaze was okay.

"...El...Elektra? Mokuba?" Blaze spoke softly, "What's going on? I thought I was dead."

"You almost were," Mokuba said teary-eyed.

Which reminded me. I punched Blaze in the shoulder and scolded, "And don't EVER do that again! You had me worried sick!"

She winced and held her shoulder and turned to her side. "Ow! Good Lord Ella! I'm sore enough as it is."

"You almost killed yourself!" I continued scolding and crying. "Don't you know how much we love you?! Why would you... Why..."

I couldn't yell at her anymore. She was alive now and that's all I had to worry about for now. I broke down and held her while sobbing like some big dumb baby. But I couldn't help it.

Suddenly remembering what had happened, Blaze started crying, too. "I-I'm so sorry Elektra! I-I was j-just so scared! I felt like, like... I was nothing! I couldn't handle the pressure anymore! I'm so sorry..."

I held onto her tighter as she did the same. We let go sometime later and she turned to Mokuba who was wiping his eyes dry. This whole experience has taken its toll on him, too. He's felt guilty for not telling us about what happened at the dance, but he's only human. He didn't want to burden Blaze. Plus he made it up when he kicked Gryphon's ass.

"Mokuba..." Blaze murmered.

"I'm sorry Blaze," Mokuba stammered, holding his head low as the tears returned. "I-I didn't tell anyone about what happened... I couldn't protect you... I... I'm sorry for being such a coward. I just..."

Blaze scooted towards him and lifter his chin up. "You're not a coward, Mokuba Kaiba, you're my hero. You were my best friend and did everything you thought was right to keep me safe."

"And plus he got suspeneded for knocking Gryphon out in one punch," I added.

Blaze turned back to him with a big smile on her face. "That is truly brave. And I'm sorry to you for manipulating you to lying for me when it was wrong. It's my fault that I did this to myself, not your's or any other's. I want you to know that."

He nodded and she embraced him. "Also," she added, "I've... um..."

She blinked her eyes back and forth from him to other directions, unable to verbally speak her mind. So, she just went with it. Blaze grabbed Mokuba's night shirt and pulled him in close to her and kissed him with him giving no resistance. When their lips parted, Blaze brushed her long hair behind her ear.

"-been wanting to do that for a long time."

Mokuba smiled and replied, "Not as long as I have."

Then he went in for round two. I just kinda stood there awkwardly. They were having their moment so I didn't say anything, But still, I was right there. Apparently to them, however, I was invisible. Great... my thirteen-year-old sister gets to have a boyfriend in Seto's younger brother yet I am left boyfriend-less and unable to express my love to the one guy I have had a crush on since I was eight.

At about that time Seto walked back in carrying two flashlights for me and him, though he stopped dead in his tracks in bewilderment of the scene before him.

"What did I miss?"

* * *

It's good to have Blaze back. Speaking of good things to have back, I now have my T.V. working again! Thank God!

Anyways I finally put Blaze and Mokuba together but Seto and Elektra are going to need some time. I may not even pair them together. I mean, judging by all the other FanFictions either want to see Seto paired with Kisara, Serenity, or Joey. Persoanlly, I preffer the Kisara and Joey pairing stories (don't judge), and Elektra is based off of Kisara and the two have a connection though I am not revealing it yet. So, my understanding is that most people preffer Seto being paired with those three, and with Elektra being an OC it makes the shipping that much harder.

But whatever. I like Elektra. She's my character (like the only one other than Blaze that I legally own) and I decide her fate. So whatever happens, happens.

Soon to come: Return, Vacation, Terrorism, and do you remember a certain step-brother?

L8er!


	19. Uncommon

WARNING: This chapter is really cheesy and girly. I apalogize but my creative flow has been blocked from lack of access to music via internet. I literally need to listen to music to write or at least get inspiration for the mood of the chapters. Like for the chapters with Blaze's interlude I was listening to "Zombie", "Let Her Go", "Hate Me", "Concrete Angel", and "Not Gonna Die". Oh, by the way, try to listen to those first four songs I just listed while reading chapter 15 and see if you don't cry. 'Cause I did and I started tearing up. I didn't cry (mostly because I wrote it and I knew what will happen), but I just wanted to see if anyone can.

That's all for now.

* * *

Strike Down

Nineteen: Uncommon

* * *

It was never mine.

Forced with no other option, Seto found himself resorting to the great depths of his mind scrounging for some resource to help him. What can he give her? Seto rolled over to his nightstand and sat upright with his head in his hands. Pretty soon he'll become an insomniac with all this stress. On the nightstand there was a small notebook on which he had written a summary of what Elektra liked.

1.) Wants to go to a Nirvana concert

2.) Wants to make a Disney movie

3.) Wants a Wolfowlachu

4.) Likes to draw

5.) Likes rock music

6.) Likes violent video games

He glanced over to the clock and saw that it was almost six. He hadn't slept at all since he got home with the explosion and the power outage. Of course he called the power company and left a very strong voicemail for them to listen to but he still had no idea what was going on. Though, Seto's only top three priorities were Mokuba, Elektra, and Blaze, and they were safe. Blaze even woke up and (apparently) she and his little brother are dating now.

It was amazing how much Mokuba has matured over the years. Even though he was only thirteen, Seto new just how Mokuba would turn out as he got older. He'll be tall, like Seto and their father, and he'll be a guy women will just throw themselves at. But Mokuba will be kind and still be moraly attatched to those around him. As opposed to Seto who could care less about what will happen to complete strangers.

Aside from his little brother, Seto could tell just how Elektra and Blaze will end up as. Blaze will probably marry Mokuba for one thing, and she will probably go on and be the unpredictable little bad-ass she already is. Elektra will most likely marry some nice guy and have sweet little white-haired kids. That's what she deserved, afterall.

But Seto was too deep in his own feelings for her. It would be near impossible to pass Elektra off to someone else. She meant near everything to him. He'd never do anything to hurt her.

The wheels in his brain began to turn as his creativity bloomed after years of ressesion and an idea began to form. He took everything she wanted and re-read her wishes in a different view.

1.) She likes Nirvana

2.) She likes Disney films

3.) She likes wolves, owls, and Pokemon

4.) She is an artist and expresses her opinion in a way no one has to listen to in order to understand

5.) She likes to drown the noise of everyday life by listening to music

6.) She somehow finds a way to deal with her childhood by playing horror games

There was, however, something missing from the list. Seto felt that it was something so obvious that it didn't need to be written.

Finally he started to formulate a plan.

But as he started making a seperate list of things needed, his phone rang and interupted his progress. Seto groaned and answered irritably. "What?"

"Sir," Aria answered from the other line, "there's been an issue with several of our employees."

"What about them?" Seto asked, still immensely fatigued.

"They're dead."

* * *

(_Back to Elektra/ six days later_)

The light was shining brightly in my room as I sprung outta my bed with a good amount of pinned-up evergy. It was my day today, and at 11:11pm tonight I will officially be seventeen.

Quickly, I got dressed for school and rushed down the stairs. And of course I slid down the rail 'cause if I didn't then I would've tripped over my own two feet. As soon as I entered the kitchen, I was immediantly bear hugged by a mass of people containing Mokuba, Blaze, Teagan, and Asagi.

"Happy Birthday!" they all said in unison.

Right then Nako walked in with a bouquet of waffles and bacon and a stack of pancakes with number candles put together to read "17".

"Yay food!" I exclaimed as I pulled a waffle-on-a-stick out of the bouquet and dipped it in syrup and ate it. I held up my thumb and congradulated, "Good job."

Nako blushed. "Anything for the birthday girl."

I quickly glanced around the room full of people who I considered to be family and noticed someone not present. "Where's Seto?"

Mokuba sighed and explained, "Sorry, Seto has to deal with the press again and he has a huge meeting dealing with what happened."

My heart felt for him badly. Almost a week ago several of his employees and other civilians were killed after a terrorist bombed an apatment complex not too far from here. Immediantly the paparazzi had a field day with rumors and assumtion relating to him, of course none of them based on concrete evidence. Though he worried enough to warn me to watch my back until the terrorist is caught. I'm just guessing that this is a reocurring thing with him and people who want to get to him. (Sigh) Great.

After breakfeast and opening my gifts with Mokuba's gift being a gigantic industrial sized bar of chocolate (Hell yeah!) and Blaze's present being a copy of "Mockingjay" and "The Lord of the Flies", I went to school and again was bombarded with presents from my friends.

Joey, Bakura, and Tristan all gave me various sorts of candies. Mostly Ring Pops and chocolate, which I am okay with. Yugi gave me like three Skillet CDs (because next to Nirvana thet're my favorite band) and Tea got me a necklace and matching earrings. Too bad I don't have my ears pierced.

After I packed all of my gifts in my extra large backpack I brought just in anticipation for this event, Mr. Tokomuro begun class. Or, at least, he tried. Right then Twyla burst in looking very frazzled.

"Stop everything," Twyla announced holding out here hands out, "I have a serious problem!"

Oh Lord.

"What is it Ms. Caster?" Mr. Tokomuro asked.

"I think I have serious mental issues," she proclaimed.

The bullies started snickering but I just face palmed.

"What makes you say that?" my teacher questioned.

"Because I thought this was my classroom and it isn't my classroom and for whatever reason I poured my cereal into my milk this morning."

Mr. Tokomuro groaned and ordered for her to leave but she protested.

"Wait! Can I at least give Elektra something?"

"Only if you hurry," Mr. Tokomuro said.

Twyla smiled and scurried towards mine and Joey's desk in the back and pulled out a small plastic blue card from her backpack and handed it to me.

"Here."

"What is it?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes playfully and answered, "A gift card silly. It's for any shop at the mall." Twyla caught sight of my partner and leaned onto the table flirtatiously. "Hey Joey."

Ugh. Twyla is really freaking boy crazy sometimes. She always has crushes on every other guy she meets. I don't remember her ever having any serious relationships, though. I think she's just infactuated with the idealic fantasy of finding her "Prince Charming".

"Oh, hey Twyla," Joey greeted.

Mr. Tokomuro rubbed his forehead in irritance. "Ms. Caster if that's all you have to do-"

She sprung out of her pose and proclaimed, "No! Wait! I almost forgot!"

She frantically pulled out a wadded piece of colored tissue paper from the sleeve of her pink jacket. She dipped her thumb into the paper and pinched something inside with her index finger. Out she pulled a fairly large white bag with dark and light blue tissue paper sticking out the top.

"What's that?" I asked.

"I dunno," she replied, "Kaiba texted me with you phone and told me to wake up like super early to go to his house and pick that up and give it to you later today because he was too busy."

"He did what?" I took out my phone and started scanning through recent messages.

"I think he erased the conversation," Twyla added. "He said that he wanted it to be secret."

"But how'd he know my password?" I demanded, feeling violated that Seto would go through my personal belongings without my consent.

"Blaze told him."

"Verdammt," I muttered. Blaze is my sister and I love her but I'm gonna shave her eyebrows off while she's sleeping tonight. What right does she have to tell Seto my password? And doesn't she hate him anyways?

"Ms. Caster, are you quite done yet?" Mr. Tokomuro questioned.

Twyla groaned. "Fine. But you're a killjoy."

As she left, I couldn't help but curiously peek into the large microwave-sized bag, but I didn't even get passed the paper before Mr. Tokomuro repremanded me.

"Ms. Redgaurd, you can open that on your own time," he said, "Inbetween classes, after school, lunch- I don't care so long as its not in my class."

"Okay," I responded. I sat the slightly heavy bag down by my feet as the lesson started. Not that I was paying attention. Something felt really... off. I couldn't explain it, but something about this day that was supposed to be joyous for me seemed to foreshadow some sorta despair or some dark event.

I glanced down to that white and blue gift bag sitting below me. Was there something in there meant to harm me? No, Seto wouldn't do that. Sure he maybe a hardened man with a shriveled up raisin for a heart but he's not cruel. Well, not cruel to me at least. He'd never hurt me.

Right?

* * *

A few hours later we were dismissed to lunch. I brought my present from Seto with me, eager to know what was in there. Before I ate my food, I immediantly scooted my tray away and replaced the spot where it once occupied with my present.

"You shure you wanna open it right now?" Tea asked. "I mean, wouldn't you like to eat first?"

"Maybe it's food," Tristan implied.

"Maybe it's shoes," Bakura mentioned.

"Maybe it's a dolphin," Twyla said.

We all glared at her.

"How could a dolphin live on land?" Yugi questioned.

"Yeah an' how could it fit inna bahx dat small?" Joey said.

Twyla shrugged. "Okay fine maybe it's a monkey. How the hell should I know?"

"God I hope not," I murmered. You see, I have this extreme primal fear of monkeys. They're like tiny furry demon spawn that can rip your face off and sling crap at you. Not junk crap, like literal crap. Though they can probably throw junk at you, too. Not that it mattered to me. Monkeys were monkeys, and I hate monkeys.

Luckily that I didn't think that Seto would be crazy enough to buy a monkey or any animal for that matter. It would poop everywhere and he would eventually step in it, and however very hilarious, Seto would murder that animal in a heartbeat. I'm not a fan of animal cruelty so I've just accepted the fact that putting a bunny in a tiger cage (with the bunny being the bunny and Seto being the tiger) would be _**very**_ bad.

I pulled out the first bit of colored paper and through it on Joey's head. With which he piled onto his head and said, "I'm tryna look like a supermodel, hold up."

"Uhhh... You look like a dork," Yugi joked.

"I'm fabulous whatta you talkin' about?"

I chuckled as I pulled out the last piece of paper and added it to Joey's "wig" and pulled out the first item I could get my hands on. From what I could feel, it was small, plastic, and square.

Oh my God.

My mouth went agape as a small, gutteral gasp emenated from my throat. "It's a signed Nevermind case!"

For those who don't know, Nevermind is an album from Nirvana that had "Lithium" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on it to name a few. Also for those who don't know, the lead singer of this band died in 1994. So to have an autographed album is freaking awesome.

Almost everyone was amazed. Joey and Tristan tried to grab it from me, but I held it away from them and growled, "If any of you two fools touch this, you're going to die."

And I meant it.

"Really everyone signed it? Even Kurt Cobain?" Yugi asked.

I nodded.

"Who's Kurt Cobain?" Tea asked, seeming very confused on everyone else's astonishment of the gift.

We all slowly turned to her in disbelief that she did not know this.

"You don't know who Kurt Cobain is?!" Twyla roared in frustration and anger over Tea's ignorance of the subject.

"Twyla!" I said sternly from the opposite end of the table. "Calm the hell down." She sat down as I explained the situation to Tea. "Kurt Cobain was the lead singer and guitarist for Nirvana."

"Okay?"

I sighed as Yugi chimed in. "I'll explain it to ya later."

I continued reaching into the bag and pulled out something really soft. It was a yellow jacket with brown stripes on the back and had two pointy ears on the hood. Oh I get it. It's a Pikachu jacket. I sat it to the side and took out the other two fluffy things I felt in there, which was a stuffed wolf doll and owl doll. Aww, cute. But you gotta imagine seeing Seto Kaiba walking through a store buying this stuff.

Next I pulled out two books: one a manual of character and story creation made by Disney along with a comic of The Last of Us. Both were autographed. Also the game came with it along with a copy of Frozen. Cool. After that I pulled out a Rammstein CD and a Metallica CD. They weren't signed though.

The last thing I pulled out was a small metal case with a folded up note covering the top. Carefully I untied the blue string holding the note still and unfolded it.

_Elektra,_

_I don't know how to possibly put this in accurate words, so I made this letter and bought all these presents as a way for me to try to communicate how grateful I am to you._

_Before you came, I never felt anything for anybody. It was like I had all my feelings and compassion drained from me. I hated everything in the world. I still hate alot of things, but I know there's one thing that's never going to change: I don't hate you._

_I'll never hate you._

_If you're wondering about how I came up with the ideas, it was while I was asking you all those questions the night Blaze woke up. Not that I need to tell you. You're smart; you would have figured it out by now. Anyways, that Nirvana CD was something my parents had back when they were younger. I found it while going through their stuff when I was little and my father let me keep it. The jacket and dolls came from the "Wolfowlachu" thing you were talking about. Everything else just came from stuff I picked up from being with you._

_And knowing that there's nothing I could ever give that can amount to what you have done for me and Mokuba, I give you these gifts. I hope you appreciate them._

_-Seto_

I didn't say anything outloud, though I was truly flattered. I don't think that Seto would like it if everyone saw the softer side of him he depicted in this note. He'd kill me. I folded the note back up and dropped in the bag while everyone was passing around my stuff and playing with it.

But the case still lay in my hand.

Without knowing what I would soon discover, I casually opened the lid. Inside there lay something all too familiar that came with an all too familiar sensation of joy, astonishment, and confusion. It was a Blue Eyes White Dragon card. No, it was _my_ Blue Eyes White Dragon card. Seto gave it back.

Yugi saw what I had in my hand and was speechless at first, but soon enough he found his words. "Is that the Blue Eyes?"

Everyone turned to me.

I nodded. "He gave it back."

A somber tension fell on us. This was way outta character for Seto. He never cared for anyone. He never felt undeserving. He never did things like this. So why now? Why me? I'm not this special. I'm just some childish girl with her dense head barely above water even if her mind is in the clouds. The funny thing is, with my head in the clouds and my body in the water makes it easy for lightning to strike me. But I like the lightning. Storms have always been there for me. Always present, always looming, always clearing my path while causing chaos and destruction for others. Like Seto.

"Damn," Joey muttered, "I nevah t'ought dat Kaiba'd do somet'in' like dat."

"Elektra, I hope you realize how lucky you are," Tristan said, catching my attention. "Kaiba doesn't act this nice to just anybody- no, he doesn't act this kind to anybody period."

"Yeah," Bakura added, "Kaiba's heart is stone cold and empty. But for whatever reason he shows kindness to you and you only."

Twyla chuckled lightly, turning everyone's attention to her. "Oh please. Don't act like you don't see what's happening here." We all waited for her to elaborate. She sighed and explained, "Good God... Okay, I feel stupid stating the obvious but you guys are too blind to see this so... Kaiba fell in love with Elektra. D_uuuuhhhh_."

My face went red. Yeah I'll admit that I like him but we're not in love. "We're not in love Twy," I defended, "We're not even dating."

She blew some strands of hair out of her face and replied, "Whatever."

I felt someone bump my shoulder and turned to see Yugi poking at me. "I'm guessing that this is very awkward so Imma go ahead and change the subject. So... That's you're card huh?"

I nodded, still feeling the burn on my cheeks, and answered, "R-right. The one I got at your Grandfather's store, I think."

"Can I see it?"

As I took out the card for him to see, I saw a piece of scrap paper hiding under the card. While eveyone was preocupied with the Blue Eyes, I opened the folded piece of scrap paer which read: "It was never mine".

I couldn't help but smile.

* * *

After school and after I said a brief farewell with Blaze and Mokuba (with today being the first time Blaze has been to school since... what happened) since they had chores, I was again greeted pleasently by Terrance. Most days he's there to walk Twyla home, but on Wednesdays he has to work at a power plant. Since it was Friday, he was there to great me.

Terrance waved at me and asked from slightly afar, "What's that?"

He was reffering to the bag of stuff Seto got me. "Oh, something from a friend." As I got closer to him, I noticed that he was holding something behind his back. "What is it that you have?"

Terrance smirked and replied, "Though I'm not a full-blooded magician like Twyla, I'm still handy with a bit of magic myself."

Before I could question him, he pulled out a beautiful rose for me. Except, it wasn't exactly rose. It had white petals and at the tips was a burning indigo and cobalt ember, and at the base where the soil should be was replaced with coal.

"Woah," I murmered in awe of its radiance, "Terrance... this is amazing."

He handed it over to me and said, "Happy Birthday."

I would hug him, but my hands were full of a bag full of gifts and a magical burning flower.

"Oh, and uh, don't water it," he added, "It won't survive with water so pour any flamable oil in there if it starts getting droopy. Stuff like alcohol or kerosine or something."

"I'll be sure to do that. Maybe I can get Seto to yell at it. He always gets people seething with firey anger anyways,"

Of course I was joking, but he did not take it that way. "Elektra, I really don't think that you should be living with that creep."

Ugh... Terrance has always been too overprotective. But it's not the reason why we broke up. And it's not really a bad thing for me to have an overprotective boyfriend. I mean, considering all the crap I get into it's good to have someone be my rock. I actually find it kind of endearing and cute.

"Well, it's not your life is it?" I retorted.

He didn't get angry. That was never his style. He just calmly replied, "I just don't think that it's wise to be living with a complete egomaniac, Doodlebug."

I shrugged. "Seto's a nice guy, Terr. He protects me. He takes care of us."

"He sounds like a player," Terrance protested, "A rich CEO like that guy just wants to use girls like you in his Playboy Mansion."

I noticed Seto walk up a few seconds before Terrance's sentance started, but I was too petrified humorous fear to say something. Seto wasn't too afraid to say something, however. Not at all.

"Do you honestly think that I would use someone like Elektra for petty sex you sorry piece of shit?" Seto demanded.

Terrance fearlessly turned in his direction, unintimidated by his freezingly evil stare. Shit just got real. He shrugged in response. "Why else pick up an unconscious, defensless girl off the street?"

I kinda told him what happened, though I left out a few parts at Seto's request.

"Because I wasn't gonna let my friend die," Seto retorted.

"So why not take her to a hospital?" Terrance questioned, "Why take her and her little sister to your mansion, perv?"

Seto grabbed Terrance's shirt collar and growled, "Call me a perv one more time. It'll be the last thing you'll ever say."

Terrance shoved him away and protested, "My last words will not be to you of all people, Kaiba. I wouldn't waste the oxygen."

If only I had popcorn 'cause this show is hard to look away from. Luckily Twyla, who had somehow appeared outta nowhere to watch the confrontation, shared some of her popcorn with me. I and the small crowd of people watched in amusement of the fight in anticipation for them to start beating the crap out of each other.

"I will drown you in liquid nitrogen," Seto threatened.

"I will bitch-slap you sideways with a chainsaw," Terrance retorted.

"I'm gonna beat you to death with a hammer made from box jellyfish stingers."

"I hope a deadly spider crawls up you nose while you're asleep and lays eggs in your lower intestines."

Okay this is just getting dark. Time for me to stop this. "Hey! Stop! No one is gonna be beaten to death and no one is going to become the host to a brood of deadly spider hatchlings!"

I stood inbetween them to prevent a possible murder attempt. Though I couldn't make Seto leave. He was like six feet tall and mosty made of muscle despite his lean figure, so no matter how hard I pushed he still remained stationary.

"C'mon Seto," I pleaded, not too keen on watching one of the corners of this love triangle be cut off in a gruesome manner. "You're nineteen for Christ's sake! Just let it go."

He finally yet relunctently left the fight much to his own and the medium audience's displeasure. I swear to God... putting him and Terrance together is like putting two beta fish in the same bowl. Blood is going to be shed.

As we got in the limo, Seto turned to me with icey eyes which at the same time burned with uncontainable rage and jealousy. Through all his bullcrap, through all his temper and pride, I could only smile.

"What?" he demanded.

I didn't answer. If he's as smart as he claims he is, then this should be a no brainer. My emotions aren't a jigsaw puzzle, dude.

"Would you mind if I did something you wouldn't like for a second?"

He scowled with distaste and responded, "Elektra, I am extremely pissed off right now; do you really think I would allow that?"

"Nope," I said as I embraced him warmly. I didn't care either way. He wouldn't make too big of a deal out of it anyways. "Thank you. For everything." I let go and then said, "You not as bad as they say you are."

Seto smiled. "No. I'm much worse."

* * *

Again, sorry for the girliness that's been happening in the chapters so far. I don't think that it pisses my readers off, it just pisses me off. Basically I'm just trying to rush half of myself to the chapter where Seto and Elektra either get together or not while the other half of me is like, "Dude! This is getting too sloppy and you made this a suspense story SO MAKE IT SUSPENSEFUL!" Then I was like, "Fine Second Half! I'll freakin' prolong it, you happy now?" I literally had to change the ending of this chapter (which would have probably doubled its current length) to add in the next few less-girly chapters.

Elektra's fear of monkeys is also one of my fears. Though it is not my greatest fear. My greatest fear is puppets/ human dolls. Seriously. I tried to watch Child's Play and I literally started crying and having a panic attack. That was last week. And I had this friend who told me that when he was a kid, he had a doll that looked just like Chucky and after he saw that movie, he stabbed the doll with a pencil and threw him in the garbage can outside and the next day he wasn't there. Yeah... he didn't really help with my phobia.

Hey, wanna know some trivia? If not, skip this part and go to another story or the next chapter if I have it up. Anyways, did you know that Seto Kaiba's English voice actor also plays Brock, James, and Magikarp in the beginning Pokemon series? I'm talking like Kanto region to early Hoenn, but still. I thought it was cool.

Anyways, later!


	20. Schrecklich

Yes the title is in German. Also, the beginning to this is pretty confusing so pay attention.

Also, this chapter contains an extensive use of the F-word so keep young children away unless you want a long discussion to deal with.

And I've been thinking on doing a prequel for Strike Down about Elektra's parents basically to better explain her connection to Kisara and why Klaus was murdering people in the first place. Plus I want to elaborate on Klaus and Anna past because it is very compelling. It's also too long a story for an Interlude, so I'm just making a whole other story. But Strike Down's not ending any time soon, in case you were wondering.

* * *

Strike Down

Twenty: Schrecklich (Terrible)

* * *

She can't be dead.

My eyes squinted from the harsh light of the sun. Everything was hazy and chaotic. I had no idea what was going on. As I crawled out of some heavy debris, I noticed a sharp pain in my lower body and turned around to see a trail of crimson blood comming from me that lead to the mass of stone debris behind me. My hand went to my stomach and inside a gaping wound.

"Holy shit," I muttered through all screaming and distress of the people who had crowded around me. What happened? Why am I bleeding? Why is there so many people watching me? I was scared. For some reason, my mind only found one goal to go towards. What was really weird was that once I thought of something, my mind didn't have room for any other thoughts.

I started crawling forward towards a tall shadowy figure. "S-Seto," I begged, "S-Seto, p-please... h-h-help..."

I got closer and closer to him, the pain becoming unbearable and the blood draining faster. But he didn't help me. Seto just stood there and looked at me.

My eyes were filling with tears of fear and confusion. "Set-Seto! Y-you have to help me!"

"I don't have to do anything," Seto replied codly, stunning my heart with the distachment in his echoing voice. It was like something primal and evil was talking through him using his voice. In retrospect I should've known better but everything seemed so real that I couldn't react to or use common sense.

"B-but Seto-"

"You disgrace me," Seto said, "I let you into my home-"

"Seto..."

"-I show you compassion that I have shown to no other human being-"

"Please..."

"I give you my most prized possesion-"

"Stop..."

"-And you betray and lie to me." He kicked my in the head, tossing my body onto my back, exposing my wound. I was crying in complete terror and disbelief. Why was he doing this? Seto would never hurt me.

Seto would never hurt me.

Would he?

"You're a monster!" Seto scolded while still maintaining his level composure as usual. "You're father was a maniac and made you to be a monster! But you don't need to have pure dragon blood to be some type of fucking beast. You're a dramatic, selfish, weak little girl." He placed his foot on my skull and started applying pressure. I was too weak to stop him.

"Seto! Please stop! I love you!"

A silence befell the audience and both of us. I felt him ease his foot off my head as he said, "Elektra..."

I thought that he had finally came to his senses. He wasn't evil. He loved me, too. Seto would never hurt me. Or so I thought.

"...You're too naive to be alive," he said as he squashed my head in with the sole of his shoe.

* * *

A voice called my name in the darkness. My eyes remained close at my own will. I didn't wanna see his face. The floor I was laying on was slick and wet, and the air around me was moist and humid. The voice called me again. I was still shaken by my vision too much to answer to the voice. Especially _that_ voice.

"Let me go," I muttered, still awakening from my blackout. "Let go... you... bastard..."

"Elektra!" Seto said sternly as he shook my shoulders gently. "C'mon! Open your eyes!"

"Fuck off..." I retorted still wrapped in confusion and fatigue.

I heard him grunt and I felt his hands wrap under my body, which felt really vivid; like he was touching my bare skin. Wait a minute... Holy shit he was! I was squirming to get free. One: because I was still wary of him for trying to kill me in my vision. Two: I was naked for Christ's sake!

"Le...Let go... of... me...," I murmered, too weak to raise my voice or move around too much. I tried to punch him in the face but I still didn't want to open my eyes and plus my arms were held under some sort of cloth that lay over me and was tucked inbetween mine and Seto's bodies. Okay, maybe I wasn't completely naked but still.

Seto only held me tighter and was firmer in his tone. "Elektra! Stop! I'm trying to help you!"

Psh. Yeah right. You didn't exactly help me when you squashed my head with your shoe asshole.

Having no more energy to fight, I finally gave in and let him take me to where ever he wanted to take me. But good Lord what happened? Seto lay me down on something I figured to be my bed (as my eyes were still closed) with great care. Oh man. So... I was in the bathroom (I guess), I was naked, I was confused, Seto was nearby, and his first instinct is to put me in bed? I was very scared. Strangely pleased but still very much scared.

Finally, I tried opening my eyes. But the throbbing pain in my head hurt so much that I could only manage to make slits in my vision. Immediently I could see Seto. He was hunched over me, hanging over me from the side of my bed, and his opaque and overwhelming presence towered above me. That's not quite as... weird as the thing I couldn't ignore. He wore no shirt. Yeeeeaaaahhhhhh, I felt very awkward. In fact my eyes would've widened and I probably would've blushed but I was too dazed and fatigued.

"Hey, talk to me," Seto said vaguely concerned, "Don't pass out."

"Wha-what happened?" I questioned. "Did we have sex?"

Don't judge. That situation seemed very provocative.

"Uh, yeah?" Seto answered, "Elektra, we've been married for ten years."

"What?"

"We have kids and Blaze and Mokuba are married with kids, too."

Now my eyes went wide. Not to be bashful but out of sheer shock. "WHAT?!"

He started laughing. It started off as a quiet snicker then it just exploded into a boisterous laugh. What's going on? How are we married? Since when can Seto Kaiba laugh? And since when do I have kids?!

"Boy you better keep talking if you wanna keep a ring on this finger," I threatened.

"I was just kidding," Seto laughed. "I just couldn't... I mean, the situation was just too perfect to pass up."

My eyes furrowed and my mouth fell slightly agape. "You're so mean." The cruelty in my head started to spin, too. "I mean, I was so happy to think that I had kids-" I said with tears running down my face. "-that I finally had hope that I could ever have a family. And to just have that dream stolen by some sick joke-!"

Seto's face became shrouded by guilt. "Oh my God! I-I'm so sorry! I-"

"Seto," I interupted, cleaning the tears from my face while slightly laughing. "I'm fine. We're even now."

His blank stare quickly took back over as he _hmph_ed. "Yeah and I'm cruel."

"Uh, I have a question," I asked, "Why do you not have a shirt and why am I naked?"

He smirked. "You slipped and fell in the shower. I heard you scream and I came in."

Instantly I found myself blushing. "So... you saw me naked."

Seto averted his gaze away from my eyes and rose from his position. "Well, yeah. But only for a quick second before I put my shirt over you."

"So you saw me naked."

"That's not really such a big deal, Elektra."

"But you saw me naked."

He rolled his eyes. "It wasn't like I _wanted_ to-"

"So you think I'm unattractive."

"No!"

"So why didn't you look?"

"Because you were naked!"

"So why not to get Blaze to help?"

"Blaze and Mokuba went on a date to go see a movie."

"Why not just wait?"

He face palmed. I knew I was annoying him. And I enjoyed it. "I thought you were hurt."

"So you care about me?"

"No! Well, yes but- um, I guess?"

I smiled. "Aww."

"Hey Elektra."

"What?"

"You're still naked."

I stared him dead in the eye. He didn't _have_ to stay in there after taking me out of the shower. I mean, I wasn't holding a gun to his head saying "Take a look at my body!". He could have left. He _should _have left.

A stupid cocky smile grew on Seto's face. He'd never admitt it, he thought he was too good and sophisticated to think this, but I knew that he was getting some sort of enjoyment out of this. Ugh, men. The fact that he was aroused was slightly, ever so slightly, flattering and yet numbly disturbing.

"You better leave while you still have your manhood," I threatened.

At first he thought he was kidding but after spending a few seconds glancing into my eyes he had a faithful change in heart and left me alone in my room. I still had his shirt laying over me. It was dark blue in color and had a moderate warmth to it. I almost didn't want to let it go. But I needed my pajamas. Seto's shirt only covers so much.

* * *

(And back to Seto)

_Son of a bitch!_

Really? Really?!

Is there no one in the world to trust these days? He gave that insignifigant bastard one so very simple job and he fails. Of course Seto fired him; he was merely an assistant and practically insignifigant. It wasn't like that brick would bring down his multi-million dollar company.

What had happened was that Seto entrusted one of his assistants to confront the press about the most recent terrorist attack. Just this morning, Seto recieved a e-mail from an anonimous source threatening that if he didn't comply to his demands that he would send an anthrax letter to each one of his employees. When he refused, a mass e-mail was sent to the workers with a copy of their home address along with a death threat. All it took was a few complaints and messages on Facebook and Twitter to get the damn paparazzi buzzing. He didn't fire those who open their lives freely within the internet, though he wanted to at least dock their pay. But Aria thought that to be too "harsh". Psh. Hardly. As it would seem, Aria Hanson is like most of the female population when she views the nonsense of publicly private affairs as being not a just reason to place blame the publicity of the incident.

Seto grunted and dug his fingertips into his scalp in frustration. _One job, I give that mother fucker one job and he goes and fucks it up even more_. Seto instructed for one an assistant (higher ranking than most but less than Aria) to tell the press that he (Seto) was not responsible for the threats and that his company will take every and any procaution to keep its workers safe from harm. But that trivial "dog" cracked under pressure after two minutes and got that one damn question conused. That one damn question.

"And what do you think is responsible for the neglect of care of such workers considering that in fact your boss is not one to bring comfort or aid to almost anyone not in his direct family since the vast population views him as being egotistical and narsasistic?" a member of the press had asked.

"Uhhh...," the worker had said, visibly shaking and sweating perfusely like a nervous idiot, "Um... M-my boss?"

It was a question, but the press did not take it that way at all. Seto had known better than to let his nerves show or to say something that bendable. So, directly after firing that clumsy bastard, Seto had to properly address the press without letting his anger rise to a visible to degree. Which, for him, was very hard.

Seto groaned and tried to return to his work but was soon interupted by Aria who had just walked in. Normally, her hair was strainght and orderly and neatly tied into either a bun or pigtails. Today, however, Aria had let a few dozen strands fall out of place and her eyes were as sharp as ever, only with dark circles shadowing them. She had spent the last few hours trying to get the workers under control while also keeping a keen eye on team of hackers they hired to try and find the terrorist. Judging by her lack of concern with her own appearence or how disorderly she was and the imaginary fuse to her temper almost gone, there was little progress.

"Sir," Aria said, "Someone's here to see you."

"Who ever it is, they can wait," Seto replied irritably.

Aria furrowed her eyes. "Sir, it's someone from the East Coast. Washington to be exact."

"Again, they can fucking wait," Seto answered even more impatient than previously.

She shook her head, slightly annoyed by her employer. "It's Nicholas Quinn, Seto. And before you rudely dismiss me again, I'd like to add that Mr. Quinn is with the FBI."

_Goddammit_. Sooner or later Seto suspected that the goverment would somehow get involved. It was inevidable, but that didn't make him like the situation any more or less. Better get it over with.

* * *

"Well, well, the one and only Seto Kaiba-"

_Oh shut up and get on with it, moron,_ Seto thought to himself. He's learned to hold his tongue in tense situations like this, but the flattery people try to use to mask their true motives is something all too common for him. It gets rather annoying by now.

"What do you want?" Seto asked, not remembering or caring if Quinn was done talking or not.

Agent Quinn grinned, familiar with such impatience, and answered, "Like you don't already know."

Seto grunted. "I have everything under control. I don't need the goverment's help with this."

He grinned yet again. "Death threats have been submitted and you claim to have control?" Quinn shook his head. "I thought one of your calibur would be a little more wise in this situation."

Out of his perifreal vision, Seto checked to see if there were any witnesses to the murder he was about to commit. Sure, it seemed a bit irrational, but Seto was already beyond pissed off with the world today. Nope. Too many people in the lobby.

"Wisdom is irrelevant, Agent Quinn," Seto replied. "It takes reaction to deal with this perdicument."

"So you think," he taunted, "Then again, someone as adamant and pridefull as you, Mr. Kaiba, wouldn't bow down even if he stood before God and about to feel the full brunt of His wrath."

He smirked. "If only God existed."

Quinn could read Seto like a book. Due to years of dealing with many different people with many different backgrounds and levels of intelligence, Nicholas Quinn could tell just what Kaiba was thinking. Judging by what he knew and the look of confidence on his face, Quinn could tell that Kaiba was self-assured that the issue of a terrorist was minoscule, though he could also tell that the young CEO was drastically tired and anxious. He had lightest of shadows under his eyes and by the way a few two or three strands of hair sticking up, Quinn could tell that Seto has had problems sleeping or at least he's had very little of it. Something that really caught his eye as being strange was the long white hair on the side of his waist. He must not have noticed it- probably sat down and picked it up on accident- but where would it have come from? His secretary was a burnette and his brother had black hair. Perhaps someone has popped up in his life; someone of the female variety.

"Anyways, I have come to inform you that the FBI will be governing the investigation for now on," Quinn said, "Your services are no longer required." He smirked somewhat cruely and added, "At least now you can finally get the rest you need, Mr. Kaiba."

If only he could sleep forever.

Seto furrowed his eyes, ever slightly suspicious, but quickly discarded the notion in favor of progress. "Mr. Quinn, I assure you that KaibaCorp has only the finest in technical advancements, and while I have only the greastest respects for your career, I must decline your offer to stay neutral through this mess."

Quinn visibly became irritated. Just as Kaiba thought.

"While it is a problem," Seto added, "it is still my problem, so I intend to have at least some power in the investigation. I will not let this terrorist, whoever he is, to get the better of me."

The detective looked as if he was holding back venomous words that was poisining him the longer he held them back. Before the agent could blurt out something he would soon regret, a familiar voice rang through the lobby as Elektra, dressed in a black peated skirt, black and yellow knee socks, and her Pikachu jacket, ran forward towards them filled with eagerness.

But Seto was not happy to see her. For one, he was having an important conversation with a goverment agent and two, they haven't spoken since last night when she passed out in the shower. He was still feeling slightly bashful even hours have passed since the event.

"Heya Seto!" Elektra beamed joyously. Though he'd never admitt it, her smile brightened Seto's day everytime he saw it. Though today Elektra's presence was more of a nusence than a gift.

"Elektra," Seto warned, slightly shaking her perky atmosphere.

"And who's this?" Quinn asked, gaining a faint smile on his face.

* * *

(Back to Elektra)

I went to go see Seto after work since he said he wanted to talk to me about something, but I was stunned to see a giant-ass pedophile-looking guy talking to him. Seriously, this guy een outgrew Seto by almost a foot! And Seto's six feet tall! Not to mention that Mr. Sunshine looked like he was PMSing today. And the way he said my name was so menacing that it made my blood chill for an instant.

But Seto wouldn't harm me. Ever.

"This is Elektra, a friend of mine," Seto answered to the giant's question, "She's been living as a tennant in my mansion ever since August."

"True," I agreed cheerfully.

The giant smiled, but not in a good way. His greying eyes were dull in the sense that it was like he's had no reason to bring them into the sunshine for millenia. His glasses sheilded his eyes from much more analysis, but his souless orbs were enough to creep me out.

"Well, nice to meet you, Ms. Elektra," he greeted, "My name is Nicholas Quinn. I'm with the FBI investigating the recent terrorist attacks."

"Recent?" I questioned, glancing at Seto since I wanted _his_ answer. Not Quinn's.

He cut his eyes at me, like he was annoyed that I didn't already know this, and said, "Something happened this morning."

"What?" I was worried for him. What if he was hurt? What if he was killed?

"Mr. Kaiba has been neglecting his workers," Quinn replied, "It seems that he cares about his own revenue more than the wellfare of these good people."

Immediantly, my temper flared the darkest of blues; the hottest shade of fire. He dare accuse Seto of being that selfish and cinical? What right does this Nicholas Quinn have to judge him this way? FBI agent or not, he's atill as short-minded and ignorant like most these days.

"Listen here you damned excuse for an officer of the nation," I growled, startling them both, "Seto would never ever be that cruel, and you're as stupid as most of the people you've put away in jail until they rot there! But that's what I would expect from someone who has their thick skull shoved up their asshole like they just bent over in prison and-"

"Elektra!" Seto snapped. The harshness in his voice was scary. He's never used that tone with me before. It was both frightening and demenaing; like he was repremanding a small child. Immediantly, I hushed as he continued, "You need to butt-out and shut up."

Something about the lack of concern and emotion in his tone shook my foundation greatly. I've never felt so embarrassed. But maybe he's embarrassed for me. Maybe I'm just a vermin to him.

I turned away as Quinn picked up the previous conversation. "Anyways, I have something for you." He held out a briefcase to him. "This is something you may find useful. The FBI has lists of wanted and convicted possible suspects who may have the means for such threats. If you're that keen on being a part of this case, then pick out the ten most potential suspects."

Without saying a word, Seto grabbed the case and Quinn left with a simple goodbye. Something didn't seem right. I could sense a deep shadow enveloping the atmosphere as a messenger or doom and demise. Not a moment later, I felt my instincts kick in. This agent, the terrorist, the case, the demeanor; it all made sense now. I had to get that case away from Seto.

* * *

(And back to Seto)

At least he's gone, and even better he's actually letting Seto play a hand in capturing this bastard terrorist. Soon, Seto turned his attention the small girl standing fragily beside him. She looked as if she had been struck like a child. He hated that he had used that side of him on her, but he couldn't have her accidently blurt out something resentful.

"I didn't mean to-"

Seto cut her off by walking away. He didn't have time for apalogies. He had a buisness to run and a terrorist to apprehend before he hurts someone important to him. Before he could make it to the elevator, Elektra placed herself between him and the doors.

"Wait!" she proclaimed. "I was uh, curious about something."

"Move," Seto commanded.

Elektra stood firmly in place. "Didn't you want to talk to me about something?"

He pushed passed her and replied, "It can wait."

She abrassively grabbed his grey jacket sleeve and turned him back around in her direction. "Seto stop!"

"What is it Elektra?" he demanded irritably.

There was a pained look in her eyes that was fully guarded by intense determination. "That Quinn guy... there-there's something wrong with him!"

"He's an FBI agent. Aria confirmed it and I saw the badge with my own eyes."

She shook her head violently. "But there's something wrong! I can feel it!"

He felt disappointed if anything. Obviously Elektra was mistaken, but the fact that she was so adamant about it only worsened her false claim. She needs to stop acting so childish and dependent.

"I don't have time for your ignorance, Elektra," Seto said.

A baffled look filled her lapis lazuli blue eyes. "Ignorance?!"

"You don't understand the fundementals of real life," Seto explained, "You're still immature and too emotional for adult life."

Her bewilderment was soon replaced by rage. "At least I have emotion! When's the last time you smiled, Mr. I'm-Too-Good-For-Happiness?"

"Nice come-back Tinker Bell," Seto retorted, hardly phased by her insult.

"Fine!" Elektra declared. "I don't care what you think of me, but something was wrong with that guy! Why won't you believe me?"

He didn't answer. He had no need to. Elektra can blab on about her case, but Seto knew that there was no way that someone of his intellect could be wrong against someone like Elektra. Casually he turned away from her one last time before all hell had broke loose.

"Sorry!" Elektra said right before she spun him back around and punched him right in the gut. The power that came with the blow was beyond a regular human's strength; and far beyond any hit he had taken before. Immediantly the wind was knocked out of Seto and he even fell down to one knee and let go of the briefcase. Before it could hit the floor, she scooped it up and sprinted out of the building.

"ELEKTRA!" Seto called after her, using up the last of his breath.

Employees flocked around the broken CEO as he struggled to regain his breath. It was like his internal organs were on fire, and he was too weak to stand just yet. Since when did Elektra possess this much strength?

"Mr. Kaiba!" Aria gasped as she lifted her boss back onto his feet. "Are you okay? When the police hear about that little-"

"Aria! Don't," Seto groaned, suprising his secretary, "I'll go get her."

He choked up one last breath before he sucked up all his agony and chased after her. Out of the building, he could already see Elektra resting against a street lamp among a massive crowd of civilians. Clearly she was dazed and disoriented from her actions, but her frazzled state soon became fearful once she saw the enraged Seto Kaiba glaring her down from about ten feet away.

"Elektra!" Seto growled angrily at her.

She again fled into the street with Seto close behind her. Carefully and agily she moved past busy people as did he. Of course some people where confused on why a celeberty buisness owner was chasing a teenage girl in a Pikachu jakcet carrying a briefcase, but it was nothing to worry too much about.

Seto finally grabbed the back of her jacket and flung her backwards where she was facing him as she accidentally threw the case up. They simultaniously grabbed the case at opposite ends, neither one about to release their grip.

"Elektra! What the hell has gotten into you?!"

She groaned as she struggled to keep her grip. "I'm trying to help you!"

"I don't need any help from you!" Seto barked.

"Why won't you just trust me?!"

"Why can't you just get the hell outta my life?!"

He immediantly regretted what he had just said.

Instead of falling to the ground and start crying, Elektra threw the case back up in th air, much higher than last time, about fifteen feet in the air, towards a building. Everything went in slow motion. Once the case hit the building, it exploded.

Elektra was right.

Seto and Elektra turned away from the small explosion, meant only to kill someone within a ten foot radius. A few debris fell on their backs but for the moment Seto was just thankful that they were both alive. She turned to him, eyes full of spite and malice.

"You wouldn't be living right now if it wasn't for me."

Before he could think of something to even say in response, the medium sized building (about four stories tall) started creeking. It was old and very worn down with moss growing at the base of the foundation and almost every window was gone if not busted at least. It was very easy to fall apart. He stood there in shock, unable to react, until he felt Elektra shove him away with her own body.

"SETO LOOK OUT!" she screamed.

He was pushed out of harm's way while Elektra, the gentle, loving, fragile Elektra Redgaurd, had fallen after pushing him out of the way of the fastly falling rubble. She was going to be crushed.

"Elektra!"

But it was too late. She disappeared under a mountain of debris. Seto was in a daze. She can't be dead. She just can't be. He couldn't imagine his life without her. Every day he spent was only bearable because of her. Every minute couldn't pass him by without Elektra in his thoughts. So she can't be dead. He wouldn't let her die.

He quickly made his way to the pile of rubble with the sizes varying between small pebbles to those the size of smart cars. He tore away at the pile, careful not to accidently rip out a rock that would collapse the pile and kill her instatnly anyways. But Seto still made fast time in ripping away every bit of debris. Sirens could be heard faintly in the distance, a sign that someone in the growing crowd had called for help.

Seto was determined to pull his beloved friend out of the rubble. She meant everything to him, and he wasn't going to let her die. Especially when his last words to her were "Why can't you get the hell outta my life?!". He'd give anything to take those words back. He'd give anything to be in her place. _Please, please don't leave me._ But as he dug deeper into the pile, no signs of life were visible, and yet he still hopelessly clawed at the debris desperately trying to bring her back.

* * *

Cliffhangers. The only downside to reading things. Gotta love 'em.

Later!


	21. Escape the Problem

Last chapter was a cliffhanger, this one is not. As you may or may not know, I am currently working on a prequel for this story called Strike Down: Dementia. I will be making it while I am still writing Strike Down so... yeah. Fun, fun.

After the next few chapters, the story will be taking a change and I may take awhile to formulate them accurately. Also, I feel my internet slowly slipping away from me, as in I may be running out. Sorry! Also I'm only updating twice a week on Sunday and some other day.

Anyways, enjoy! And thanks for the reviews and support guys!

* * *

Strike Down

Twenty-one: Escape the Problem

* * *

Maybe a little time off will do some good.

Seto sat alone in the chair in the kitchen with his head in his hands. He had let everything slip away from him so abruptly. Everything he used to love- everything he used to take for granted- had been washed away from him. It was like God was kicking him in the ass and scolding him for every mistake he had ever made. Sure the main one on his mind right now was the most recent but every wrong doing he has ever committed came back to him. Everything from using Mokuba back when he took over KaibaCorp from when he punched Blaze when they were kids at the orphanage to stealing extra pieces of candy from the baskets of other kids during Halloween when he was little. The most trivial things reappeared to him all of the sudden, begging to be remembered. All of his choices were haunting him, and though he has fought back and denied everything to happen in his life for the past decade, he could not neglect it all now.

He felt the familiar emptiness of depression, something that had only surfaced once before in his life about a year ago. Seto had been able to subdue that spout of depression with a large amount of alcohol, and with that being his first time drinking and with his body having to deal with so much excess, he became very sick and it took Mokuba, young and impressionable Mokuba, to come home and see his big brother passed out on the floor and calling the paramedics to save him. Seto was so ashamed and disappointed with himself for letting his beloved baby brother to have to seem him like that, that he went to a private therapist for a month until he felt that he was better.

Of course he had never brought up the subject since, but the memory lingered by him now. He had sworn off alcohol until he was twenty-one (psh, yeah. See how long that lasts), but a few shiny glasses looked pretty good right now.

_No_, Seto reminded himself. _Not again_. He didn't want what happened last year to happen again. But the incident was cutting at his psyche like the sharpest knife. He had let Elektra almost die. He remembered everything so vividly: him yelling those regretful words at her, her pushing him out of the way of tha falling debris, and the scene of Elektra being whisked away to the hospital by an ambulance. Most compelling and most lasting was the image of her broken and bleeding body.

At the scene, Seto looked after the ambulance thinking to himself: _This is all because of me, this is all because of me_. Seto sat there in a daze with Elektra's blood still in his hands from her deep cuts when he held her for a split second before she was taken away by the paramedics.

Now Seto was home alone; not even the maids were present. Mokuba, Blaze, Asagi, Teagan, Nako, and the Geek Squad had all gone to the hospital to see Elektra, who was still comatose. He, however, couldn't bring himself to go see her. Because he knew that if she was conscious, that she would be quietly hating him if not verbally. It was _his_ fault that she got hurt. At least, that's what he felt. If only he had listened...

There was nothing he could do about it now. He needed to stay focused on what lies ahead and the welfare of his company. The terrorist, now identified as Agent Nicholas Quinn, was still at-large and targeting those closest to him. How much longer until Quinn targets Mokuba or Blaze? And what did he have against Seto anyways? He already had Aria working on it back at KaibaCorp, though he felt guilty for stressing her out so much with all this work and terrorist bullcrap.

Seto yawned, feeling the emotional strain of today start taking its toll on him. No amount of coffee would stop him for going to sleep now. He needed it.

Several hours later, at some ungodly hour of the night, Seto was shaken awake by his little brother who seemed as emotionally exhausted as he was. Surely Blaze was greatly devastated by the incident and Seto will probably feel the brunt of her anger later.

"Hey, are you awake?" Mokuba moaned, obviously craving sleep as if his life depended on it.

"Am now," Seto groaned as a reply.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Seto yawned and stretched upright in the kitchen chair. He glanced over to one of the windows and saw the stars illuminating the dark sky. "What time is it?"

"Bedtime," Mokuba replied both sarcastically and yet honestly.

"You're too old to have a bedtime."

"Fine, then it's Mokuba-go-to-sleep-time," he retorted irritably.

Very rarely does Mokuba Kaiba get an attitude with his big brother. When he does, however, it's for good reason. He had spent the last nine hours at the hospital worrying to death about whether-or-not Elektra would pull through the first surgery. Not to mention that he had to console his girlfriend who was already struggling with depression and who already tried to kill herself.

"How is she?" Seto asked, eager to learn of Elektra's current status.

Mokuba yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes. "Well, she's alive. But she has a skull fracture, three broken ribs, a punctured lung, her left arm is broken in two places and the right is broken in six, she fractured one of her femurs, and she had twelve like huge shards of glass pulled outta her."

Seto stared down at the table in guilt. He wished he hadn't asked. Just knowing the injuries Elektra has sustained worsened his resentment. How could he have hurt somebody he cared so much for?

Mokuba saw his brother's guilt and tried to bring comfort to him. "Hey, Seto, it's not your fault."

He shook his head in response. "Yes it is."

He wanted badly to prove Seto wrong, but anyone could tell you that Seto Kaiba is not a man to change his opinion. His heart ached to see his older sibling suffer like this. He felt the same when Blaze tried to kill herself: like everything was his fault for not telling someone of what Gryphon had done to her. After a few conversations with Blaze, he had finally came to terms with the fact that he was human and every human makes mistakes. The thing was, he'd never expect for his brother to admit any of his mistakes of his.

Seto pushed the chair and stood up. "Who brought you home?"

"Teagan dropped us off and went home," Mokuba answered.

So that means that none of his maids could drive him to the hospital. And Mr. Lewis was probably fast asleep by now and Seto didn't feel like waking the frail old man at this hour. He didn't really feel capable of driving himself being this tired, but apparently he'll have to.

Seto walked over to the sink and poured icy cold water in his cupped hands. Then he splashed the water in his face and wrapped his drenched hand around his neck. Afterwards, he started making his way out of the kitchen, picking up his black leather jacket on the way out.

"Where're you going?" Mokuba yawned.

"Out."

"You know she loves you," he added, stopping Seto in his tracks.

"Mokuba-"

"It may not be in a romantic way," he continued, "it may just be in the way that I love you, but she still loves you all the same."

For a thirteen-year-old, Mokuba was exceedingly wise. Sometimes, at least. Seto took his younger brother's words into consideration as he left the mansion for the hospital.

* * *

He hardly remembered the drive there. All he remembered seeing were bright lights and various people doing whatever it was they were doing at three in the morning. Probably just prostitutes and drug dealers though.

It had been so long since Seto had been in an actual hospital. The last time he could remember was last year but at that time, he was the patient in the situation. Now it was Elektra who was incapacitated, not Seto. Though he wished for things to be reversed to where he could take Elektra's place. Unfortunately for Seto, life never seems to want to go his way.

He walked over to the front desk where a lone nurse was occupied with reading into someone's health insurance and their bill. She didn't hardly notice him.

"Excuse me," Seto said after a minute of impatient silence.

The young woman looked up and was momentarily baffled by the sight before her. When she finally acknowledged him, her voice was small and shaky. "Oh, u-um, aren't you S-Seto Kaiba?"

"I'm looking for Elektra Redgaurd's room," he responded, not wanting to waste time on trivial information.

The young woman discarded her usual starstruck behavior in the presence of a celebrity and switched back to her professional character. "Sorry, but visiting hours are over. You shoulda came with all the other people who came to see her. Man, even Yugi Moto was here-!"

"I know," Seto cut her off, "Now may I please see her."

"Sorry," she continued, "only family members can see her right now."

"Elektra doesn't have much of a family. Her only relative is Blaze," Seto angrily explained, though he did leave out the part about her father since he is mass murder for her own sake. "Now let me see her!"

"Mr. Kaiba, I will call security and have them drag you outta here in a heartbeat," the nurse threatened. "You wanna hafta deal with the press hearing about you being kicked outta a hospital _and_ all this stuff about terrorists, then be my guest."

_Bitch_. Seto just had to see her. So, he resorted to something he had almost never used: begging. "Please," he said in a level tone, though letting his eyes lessen their usual paralyzing glare, "I just need to see her. She's-" He paused, not wanting for anyone to here this, especially a random nurse. "-my friend, and it's my fault that she's here anyways."

The nurse ran her manicured fingers through her brown hair and sighed. "Go ahead. She's in room 420. Down the hall and take two lefts and her room will be second from the end on the right side."

Seto nodded and began to make his way down where the nurse had directed him. When he finally got to her room, Seto was appalled at her current state. Elektra was wearing an oxygen mask and had a mess of wires protruding from her upper body. Her left eye was dark blue and her face was covered in bruises but no cuts. The same couldn't be said for her arms and legs. She had stitching running through her appendage like an etch-a-sketch and her legs were blue and swolen. The scene sickened Seto. The guilt found its way back into his mind and started breaking away at his mental barriers. She was only suffering like this because of him.

"_Why can't you just get the hell outta my life?!_"

Those words were a stinging poison in his mouth. Truth be told, he couldn't imagine a life without Elektra. He was ashamed and embarrassed that he had allowed himself to grow so attatched to this girl, but he felt even more so that he had caused this to happen to her. Elektra may bring him away from his natural character, but she does so with kindness and support that very few people have ever cared to use on him before.

Seto pulled up a chair and sat down beside Elektra and grabbed onto her hand, carefull not to budge the large attachment at the end of her middle finger. Holding hands was something he hasn't done in years, around the time he got adopted, and even back then he only held his brother's hand when he was scared. Seven years later and now he was latched onto Elektra because _he_ was scared. He'd never admit it verbally or even to himself, but Seto was terrified that Elektra will die because of him. He wanted to just scoop her up and protect and shield her from everything in the world. As ridiculous as it sounds, he would do it in a heartbeat, even though he knew that there was nothing in his vast expanse of power that could cease all evil and hurt in the world just to protect one little girl. The one little girl the world had turned their back on like it had done with him.

He didn't believe in God or Allah or any deity for that matter, but Seto found himself silently pleading to someone to save her.

_I don't know if there is a God_, Seto thought quietly, as if he was praying, _and quite frankly I don't care. But Elektra believes in God, for whatever reason. She is kind and one of the few people in the world who still has a sense of true humanity. So if you kill her, if you dare take her away, then you are the most fucked up deity for anyone to believe in_.

Was it a little overbearing to be threatening God like that? Yes. Very much so. Not that Seto cared. No matter what religion he believed in, he already knew that he was going to that version of Hell. But he'd willfully leap into its fiery depths in an instant if it meant saving Elektra.

He rubbed the back of her hand over with his thumb softly. The quietness that surrounded him was somehow lulling him asleep. He had been up for hours and hasn't slept well for two days. Sure, a hospital wasn't on the top of his list of good places to go to sleep at, but he just did not care. He's had a traumatic day- he deserved at least a few hours of peace.

* * *

(_The next day sometime around noon_)

The doctor pulled off his latex gloves and answered to Tea's comment, "Well, she's gonna have a few scars on her arms and legs, but they're small and hardly noticeable."

The doctor had already been through the important things after surveying Elektra's body for any lasting damage. Around her thigh was a cast for her broken femur and around her ankle was a cast for what was broken in there. Both of her arms had casts and the bruises on her face were finally fading away. She was going to live with no complication from surgery or anything.

Everyone was there to see her that morning; Blaze, Yugi, Teagan, Twyla, everybody. Except for the maids who had to work and Terrance who couldn't go to hospitals. Mokuba and Seto were there but they left to go get some food a few minutes ago since Seto hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. Poor bastard stayed the night here and nearly scared the crap out of the doctor that morning. Luckily for the doctor, he had enough sense to not wake up the sleeping CEO.

"It's rather strange," the doctor added, "Ms. Redgaurd's internal wounds have almost completely healed while her flesh wounds have barely mended at all."

"I'm just glad dat she ain't dead," Joey commented. He angrily cracked his knuckles and added, "Kaiba bettah not even look my way 'less he wanna face full-a fist!"

Not wanting to get involved, the doctor found an excuse and left while Tea scolded, "Joey, I just dare you to say that to his face."

Blaze felt a sudden need to intervene. "And plus Seto already feels beyond guilty for the whole thing."

"I hate to say it but he should," Tristan said. "I hope this whole thing bites him in the ass."

Twyla teetered on her feet somberly. Seeing her old friend comatose smacked her cheerful personality down to Earth. She didn't have much to say, but she felt like she was needed to defend Kaiba. "I don't think that it's right to judge Kaiba while he's not here to defend himself."

Both Tristan and Joey started to protest when Bakura of all people stepped in. "Twyla has a point."

"Yeah," Yugi added, "Kaiba may be the biggest jerk in all humanity but he's still human."

"More like a demon spawn," Joey muttered to Tristan who nodded in agreement. Tea overheard their insult pulled them out of the room by their ears to "talk" with.

Not long after, Seto and Mokuba walked in with the youngest carrying a hashbrown he was finishing. "How come Tea's yelling at Wheeler and Taylor?" Seto questioned.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Blaze tried to brush off.

So that means that they were just talking about him. Nothing he wasn't used to, so he didn't really worry about it. He had too important thing to focus on than other people's opinions about him.

"So what exactly happened?" Yugi asked, curious to know what had happened to his friend.

Basically all he knew was that Elektra had pushed Kaiba away from a falling building and was crushed. Even though they weren't that close, Yugi still felt that Elektra was his friend. Obviously she was a good person considering that she was willing to give her life to save that of the world's biggest jerk. Either that or she's ignorant to the things Kaiba has done in the past. Then again, the past didn't always have to resurface in the future.

Seto glared at him and answered, "Exactly what you think happened."

"I t'ink you had som'than ta-do wittit you sleezeball!" Joey yelled from down the hall. Immediantly they could hear a loud slap that sounded extremely painful. "Ow..."

Kaiba turned his attention to lone Twyla Caster, noticing something missing. "What happened to your brother?"

"Terrance? He... can't come to hospitals. Like, ever," she answered.

Ahhh... So Mr. Perfect isn't so perfect now is he? Still, why can't he go to hospitals?

"Why?" Yugi asked.

A ghostly white look overwhelmed Twyla's and Blaze's faces. Apparently this was something everyone in the German-Serial-Killer-Escapee group knew about, yet reluctant to talk about.

"He's... allergic?" Twyla replied nervously.

Seto cut his eyes. "He's allergic to hospitals. How does that work?"

"Eggs," Blaze blurted out.

"What does eggs have to do with anything?" Mokuba questioned, making his girlfriend shrug.

"I dunno. I just felt like talking about eggs."

Bakura futilely tried to switch the conversation back around. "But we were talking about Ter-"

"SO ANYways, eggs are like... white," Twyla interupted.

"We're really talking about eggs right now?" Seto groaned.

"I never really liked eggs," Yugi implied, probably realizing that there was no turning back now and just rolling with it.

"Y'know what I just now realized?" Blaze inquired. "Eggs are like chicken period."

Everyone's face lit up in disgust.

"Ewwwwwehhhhh...," they all groaned in unison.

"And I just got done eating eggs!" Mokuba moaned while trying to wipe his mouth clean with a napkin.

Afterwards, after a prolonged silence of people trying to recover from their new digust for eggs and Tea came back in with a whipped Joey and Tristan, Seto and Joey got into another one of their notorious arguments in the lobby over something extremely trivial. In a desperate need of peace, Tea and Yugi offered to pay for everyone to go out and see a movie. Everyone accepted, except for Seto as the couple had suspected. After everyone left, the doctor came back expecting a full audience and was surprised to see only one member remaining.

"Oh," the doctor said, "What happened to the rest of your friends?"

"They're not my friends," Seto corrected. "They went to go see a movie and relax for awhile."

"Oh, well I'd like to inform you that Ms. Redgaurd will be regaining consciousness any minute now."

Finally. Seto's heart was both releaved and yet still wary. What if she woke up and hated him? It was his fault that she's like this, and he knows that, but he didn't want her to be afraid of him like everyone else is. Of course he wanted for everyone to fear his power as he had ample of it, and those who didn't he considered them to be either slow or outright dumb. Except for Elektra. She has never really feared him and she cared for him like no ither non-family member has before. But he honestly didn't care about that anymore. Elektra could hate him will full contempt and spit on his grave when he dies and he wouldn't care. So long as she lived, he would be okay.

The doctor left to go treat some other patient while Seto made his way to Elektra's room. She seemed to be sleeping still, as content and peaceful as ever, but at any moment Seto knew that she could very well spring awake crazy-eyed from another nightmare. Still Seto waited patiently by her side.

A few minutes later, Seto noticed Elektra's eyebrow twitching and her face scrunching up. She groaned and turned her head towards him.

"Owww...," she groaned, not fully awake yet.

"What? What hurts?" Seto asked, moving in closer to the distressed girl.

"...Everything," she moaned as a reply.

"Do you remember what happened?"

Elektra blinked open her crystal blue eyes and locked into his gaze. "Yeah."

So she knows that he almost caused her death. Great. He sighed loudly, unable to believe that he was actually coming up with an apology, and said, "Elektra, I'm s-"

"Don't." Elektra interrupted.

He was momentarily puzzled. "What?"

"Don't apologize," she clarified. "I don't wanna hear it and you don't wanna say it."

"So... I guess you hate me now."

She shook her head. "Not at all."

"Why not?"

She grimaced away another wave of pain before she continued. "Seto, you're an asshole through and through, and your ego's bigger than the circumference of the Earth. You push away everybody who tries to help you, you live in denial of your own acts of kindness, and you treat everyone as if they are your own personal punching bags only instead of hurting them with your fists, you tear them down emotionally. You're a sick human who doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone except for himself."

Hearing these words come from her was hard to hear. If it was anybody else, Seto wouldn't care at all. But it was her. And the really bad thing was that everything she was saying was true.

"And yet through all of that," Elektra continued, "I can't find it in mt heart to hate you."

This time Seto shook his head in denial. "Elektra, how can you not hate me? I did this to you."

"Damn right you did," she replied, smiling, "Then again, you only did half of it. I chose to not let you die. I wanted you to live because I have some vague hope that your heart isn't completely withered and broken as you make it out to be. I've seen the good you've done, you're not evil. So I could never hate you."

Hate. Such a strong word that has become so numb to us. So it's only reasonable that the only way for this word to become strong again is for someone to say that they don't hate you.

Seto grinned, happy that at least one person among 7.5 billion doesn't hate him. "Y'know... I've been thinking of doing something for awhile now."

"You're always thinking of something," Elektra pointed out.

"What makes you say that?"

"The fact that you're always quiet around people. In hindsight that may just be your anti-socialness."

"Both. But anyways, since Thanksgiving is coming up and you have some time away from school and I have nothing important going on in work-"

"Whatta 'bout the terrorist?"

"I'm getting to that. Anyways, when I was little my adopted father had a private island in New Zealand and Mokuba and I really haven't been there since the first Summer after getting adopted. And it would be good if we could get all four of us away from Domino while that maniac is still loose."

"Hurry up. Critical condition or not every moment you drag on brings me ever so closer to death," Elektra pestered.

"You wanna go on vacation?" Seto finally asked.

She smiled and replied, "Sure. Maybe a little time off will do some good."

"I sure as hell hope so."

Elektra and Seto spent the next few minutes in idle chat and momentary silence, saying few things as they didn't need much to hear each other. Throughout all disaster, through all hell and evil, they have remained resilient and survived. Just as they plan to do. Funny how things tend to go wrong.

* * *

After the vacation thing, there shall be yet another Interlude! But it's not a Blaze or Mokuba one. And the vacation chapters will either the the beginning or end of Seto and Elektra's relationship.

Speaking of Mr. Kaiba, I've noticed that people don't like him being portrayed as sappy. Sure, I don't like it when he acts like a complete fairy the entire time but I don't think that he should be some complete inconsiderate douche either. If you guys think that I'm making the Seto in my story too sappy then PM me about it and I'll get to changing it the best I can. But only so long as there isn't a chapter after this! I don't look on here two months from now and see fresh PMs about this. And don't be rude about it por favor, danke.

And how many of you guys can't eat eggs now? I just kinda thought that was gross, like how honey is revomited bee poop and veal is dead baby cow.

So, as I always tend to end my chapters, later.


	22. Paradise

Guten Tag! This chapter is meant to be relaxing, but what will follow will not. Sorry, I'm just cruel that way. And I am happy to announce that the first few chapters of SD: Dementia are up so go check them out if you get the chance. In that story I'm going to work harder on the grammar and spelling (as with this one, sorry I don't have spell check and it's hard to find your own mistakes sometimes) and there will be much less humor.

For the first time ever, I shall write a chapter with no cussing. No matter how hard or tempting, I shall maintain a non-volgar speech in this. God this is gonna kill me.

* * *

Strike Down

Twenty-Two: Paradise

* * *

I guess good things can come from bad people.

Just two days later and my casts were off and I was feelin' awesome. The doc says it's weird that my internal wounds healed faster than my flesh wounds, but I'm just cool like that. Tomarrow it'll be Thanksgiving and I'll be lounging it up in a hammock on Seto's private island.

Man, I can't believe that he's actually taking us on vacation. He really is sweet... y'know, when he's not acting like a complete jerk and following in his egotistical pursuits. Plus when you think about it, Seto decided to do this only after I almost died saving him. I can't believe I did that either. In the moment I was just so keen on protecting Seto. It was like some primal instinct overwhelmed me into saving him. Whether it was my feelings or something I don't know about, I really don't know. My mind was bent to helping him even at the cost of my own life. Usually I would cast doubt that he would ever do the same for me, and obviously there's enough darkness in his heart for him to harm me, but... I don't know. Maybe and most likely my stupid teenage hormones are getting the best of me. They're clouding my brain with suedo promises of hope and love.

Okay, today I'm going on a tropical vacation today and I don't need to be stressing on such things. This trip is going to be hecka awesome and I'm going to have a hecka lot of fun and I'm hecka hungry, so I should probably get my lazy butt out of bed and get my food already. Here's a question, if I live in a world that can project holograms of monsters on playing cards, then why can't Seto invent robots who can deliver my food to my room? Sure it's lazy and a tad petty, but I'm just saying. Wait... what if Seto's a robot? Oh my God that explains why he has no emotions! I feel like a freaking genious right now. Now all I need is my Nobel Prize for figuring this out. ...I'm waiting.

I glanced over at the clock and saw the time. _Oh shoot_. I spang out of bed and grabbed a handful of clothes and ran down the stairs with only my blue jeans on and my night shirt. When I got downstairs to the kitchen, I noticed that everyone was already awake and enjoying breakfeast. Immediantly, I turned my attention to Blaze who was already done eating and fully dressed.

"You traitor," I hissed angrily at the red-eyed girl.

"Wha...?"

I walked over angrily and pinched her ear in irritance. "We're supposed to meet Tea outside the gates in five minutes and you didn't wake me up?!"

Blaze whined and rapidly tapped her nails on the hard wood table. "Owwowowowo you can stop now please." I released her ear as she rubbed it as if I really hurt her. "Good Lord you have sharp nails."

I had my hand on my hip and lightning brewing in my eyes. I replied, "Why in the world did you not think to wake me up?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. Forgot."

My hands started reaching for her neck to choke but my arms retracted everytime. I wanted to ring her tan neck but I didn't want to. "So badly," I said, "So badly I want to just kill you to death."

Seto took a drink of his coffee and added, "Now you feel my pain."

I turned to him and smiled while mouthing "I hate you".

He shrugged too.

I groaned and scratched my head in irritation. Blaze and I are supposed go with Tea and Serenity to the mall and pick out some bathingsuits for our trip since we're strangers to tropical islands. We need to go really early this morning since we leave around noon in Seto's private jet. And if I had overslept because I spent all of last night getting stitches removed then I would expect for my loving (bratty) sister to wake me up. Or at least give me a Nobel Prize for finding out that Seto is a robot!

I felt a presence behind me and saw Teagan pass a plate of toast on the table infront of me. "Here ya go."

I nodded and she left. My food was delicious and I craved my victuals, but as soon as I got two bites in I heard a car honk outside. I swore lightly.

"Aw man, Tea's early," I groaned. I remembered that I had my clothes close by and started to take off my shirt before I glanced over at the two males on the opposite end of the table staring at me. "Do you guys mind turning away for a bit?"

Mokuba turned around without question while his brother took a longer time and rolled his eyes in the process. I rapidly tore my nightshirt off and pulled my bra and Sleeping With Sirens t-shirt. My hair still needed to be brushed but I'm pretty sure that Tea has a brush in her car somewhere.

"Okay you can turn around now," I called to the two boys who turned away.

"Where're you going?" Mokuba asked antintively.

"China," I replied, suddenly very agitated for some reason.

"We're going to go pick out bathingsuits," Blaze corrected. "Sorry, I think my sister just finished her sentence and started another paragraph."

"Wha...?"

Seto groaned and rubbed his head. Looks like his headaches are back. "Let me put it this way Mokuba; what do you put at the end of a sentence?"

"A period?" It took him a moment to get it. "Ohhh- wait, EWWW!"

I rolled my eyes in irritation. "Oh my- I'm not on my period guys!"

Seto smirked. "Good. Could you imagine being on your period while in the ocean? It'd be like a modern version of Jaws."

Of all people to say that, I really didn't expect him to say it. Then again, Joey doesn't live here so I guess that somebody had to say it in his place. Eager to leave the topic behind, I turned towards the door while picking up my jacket and purse sitting on the counter.

"Later," I called as Blaze and I stepped outside.

* * *

I was so thankful to God that we were alive when we got to the mall. Tea was the world's worst driver; even Fred Flinstone was better and he drove rocks with his feet. My nails were digging into her seat cover and my legs were wobbly and felt like jelly. Tea literally did everything while driving. She put on lip gloss, texts, eats a breakfeast burrito, and drives with her knee. At once. I don't know how a living human could do all those things at one time, but then I realized... it's because they're already dead. Speaking of which, I think we killed like three people on the way here.

"Oh! Wouldja look at that, we're here!" Tea proclaimed as she pleasently stepped out of her car.

Meanwhile I sighed in relief and nearly melted into a puddle in my seat and Serenity and Blaze were still shaking and holding each other in the backseat. Their eyes were wide and their teeth were chattering, like me. I fumbled around looking for the door handle and when I found it, I nearly fell out flat in the parking lot. Good. Maybe someone will run over me and send me to a hospital so Tea doesn't kill me with her whack driving skills.

After a slow and traumatic recovery, us girls found ourselves outside the yet-to-be-opened mall along with a few hundred people. They were all packing up their tents and warming their hands on barrels that were lit on fire. They were also all draped in thick, dirty coats in anticipation to the chilling winter and wore baggy pants and fingerless gloves.

"Aww," Serenity murmered, "Poor hobos."

"We're not homeless, Red," one of them replied, hearing what she had said, "We're waiting for a video game."

"Oh." Serenity blushed in embarassment.

"You ladies waiting, too?" he asked.

We all shook our heads.

The guy's buddy sitting beside him added, "Dude, chicks don't play video games."

"That is BEYOND sexist you little twerp!" I exclaimed, frightening them both.

"Oh, like you know anything about video games," the original nerd tempted.

"Try me."

"Okay, who's the main character in Legend of Zelda?"

"Link."

"What were the commercial songs for last two Dead Space games?"

"Bullet With Butterflywings and In The Air Tonight."

"In Pokemon, what Type is immune to Poison Types?"

"Steel Types."

"What is-"

"Oh man, can we please stop now?!" Tea whined. "I'm saving us two hours and just say that you three are equals in whatever nerd world you live in."

I crossed my arms frustratingly. What right does Tea have to stop me from... well actually now I kinda see that it was a little embarassing for me to be making a scene about video game trivia. But I was still mad at Tea for a few seconds before I forgot about it when I remembered that I still haven't gotten my Nobel Prize and got mad at that.

Suddenly a voice came over the loud speakers outside the mall and announced, "All customers, all customers, we'd like to announce that the mall is now open."

The line of nerds roared in excitement.

"Except for Game Stop," the announcer continued, "That will not open for another hour."

Their relief was quickly squashed. Ignoring their disappointment, the girls and I ran through the doors ahead of several other groups of teenagers. Poor nerds. They still had to sit out there and wait pitifully for their new game, which I later bought right as Game Stop opened purely out of spite. I'm just evil that way sometimes.

* * *

Blaze was in the clearence bin practically swimming around in half-priced swimwear in search of something good. Meanwhile Tea and I were browsing the regular priced swimsuits. Serenity stood at the rim of the clearence bin studying Blaze's strange behavior.

"How can you even breathe in there?" Serenity asked.

Blaze's head popped out of the sea of clothing with a snorkling mask on and replied, "With this."

"Well, have you found anything yet?"

She shifted around the pile and pulled out a black garment. "I dunno. But I found this!"

"What is it?" the red-head questioned.

"It's either a thin speedo or a thick thong," Blaze answered.

I rounded my head away from the rack of bikinis Tea and I were looking at and shouted, "Blaze! Put that back! Speedo or thong either way they're still gross!"

She flipped me off and yelled, "Good Lord! It's not even used!" Then she wrapped the leg holes around two of her fingers and pulled the string back and replied, "Besides, it could be a slingshot!"

"Blaze don-!"

But it was too late. Blaze ficked the thong/speedo into the shopping basket of an elderly woman. I faceplamed my forehead with great force. While very hilarious, I was still frustrated with Blaze and apalogetic to that poor old woman with unknown free underwear.

"Blaze!" Serenity scolded with her face as red as her hair.

My sister was silent in fear that the old woman would discover her act. "I swear, I did not mean to do that."

The three of us were snickering quietly as not to arouse the woman's suspiscion. "Well," Tea added, "At least now she might have a more exciting sex life."

I don't know about anyone else, but I laughed so hard that I accidentally kicked my shin against a metal bar on the rack. It hurt really bad but my laughter and amusement masked the pain. I was relieved to see that I wasn't the only one dying of laughter as everyone else but Blaze were rose red with tears in their eyes.

"I'm just gonna... go back... in the clothes... now," Blaze said awkwardly before sinking back in the swimsuits.

Tea and I calmed down and started shifting through the various articles of bikinis. I don'y usually wear anything that shows my midrif and I hate string bikinis. Those things may look sexy but they don't really stop the London Bridge from comming down if you know what I mean. But I'm hot regardless (not really I'm actually very self-conscious).

"So..." Tea started.

"So...?" I hate it when conversations start like that. You just know that something awkward is about to happen.

"So how did Kaiba agree to a vacation? You hafta kidnap Mokuba or did you use your woman charm?"

Yep. It got awkward. "Uh, no," I answered, blushing, "It was actually his idea." Now that I think about it, it does seem odd that Seto would do something this nice. I know that he feels bad for almost letting me die under the fragments of an old building but it was still out of the norm. Though I preffer to not think about it. I guess good things can come from bad people. Even if the bad person is someone like Seto Kaiba.

"Oh. Well why do you need swimsuits?" Tea questioned. "It's the middle o November."

I smiled and replied, "Oh, well, Seto has this beach house somewhere off the coast of New Zealand and Figi and our Winter is like their Summer. It's completely secluded and we get to ride there on a private jet and everything."

"Oh that's cool. And how is he taking the whole Terrance thing?"

My mind was quicker to answer than my mouth. "We're not dating."

Tea giggled, seeing that she had outsmarted me. That was a basic confession in hindsight, and I mentally slapped myself for letting that out. Of course we weren't dating! Tea knew this, but she also knew that I _really_ liked him and she was just trying to exploit my feelings on my own will.

"I never said you were."

A small grunt of irritance escaped my throat. "Well, he's taking it like any over-protective honey badger would." I've kind of gotten in the habit of comparing Seto to a honey badger because of their similar tempers. He hates it, which makes me love it.

"That means that he's just being a dog about it," Tea said. Then she giggled again and added, "Kinda ironic considering all the things he's called Joey."

Ah, poor Joey. If I didn't know any better I'd think that they'd be an estranged gay couple. It would be a very violent relationship, and there'd be alot of domestic abuse going on. I'm being serious, by the way. Domestic violence and homosexuality aren't really things you should make fun of. Well, depending on the situation it would but it's best not to just bring it up out of the blue. Anyways, I've already confronted Seto once about his relationship with Joey and he was real quiet at first, which masquraded the real damage I had done. Like the quiet before the storm. Then he yelled at me and broke the window behind were I was standing with the dictionary he threw. If only he had thrown a Nobel Prize at me and I wouldn't be so mad at him for it.

"True," I answered, "but all guys with girlfriends, or my case a 'female aquaintance', act like dogs. When your in a public area and some other guy just looks at you and then your boyfriend wraps you in his arms and barks at the other guy."

"Yeah, like he's trying to say: 'No! Mine! My toy!'", she inquired.

I laughed. "Yeah, and when he sees a girl he likes, he can only run to the end of his chain and bark."

Tea grinned. "Because then he'll be going straight to the doghouse."

"Dear Lord! Couldja quit it with the dog refrencing danke?!" Blaze called rom the clothes bin.

We rolled our eyes and went back to our previous action. After a few minutes of silence, I felt a nagging voice of curiosity in the back of my skull. "So what's it like dating Yugi?"

Tea shrugged but grinned at the same time. "It's like those stupid chick flicks were the girl falls for her best friend. It's still like having a friend but with longer hugging and kisses on the lips."

"I haven't been kissed on the lips since Terrance and I dated," I said. "But I then again I don't just date guys just to have a boyfriend. I date because I truly want to find my one and only. I don't wanna have flings or a friend-with-benefits. Sure, it's a dreamer's fantasy, but I don't wanna waste myself who doesn't love me with all his heart."

Tea nodded. "I know what ya mean. So why didn't you stay with Terrance? He seems a whole lot nicer than Kaiba."

"Seto may be a tad affluenzic," I said, "but our history is solid. I've seen the good in him. Terrance..." I had to pause. Could I trust Tea with the secret I hold? Probably, but it's not my place to speak his personal quirks. "... It would never work."

She didn't bring up Terrance for the rest of the evening. I wasn't trying to be mean, but it's seriously not my reputation I have to fight for. It's Terrance's and he can tell them whenever he wants to, but I will not be the cause for his despair. Aside from that conversation, our shopping trip was very... content. Not too amazing, not too shabbly; content. What would be really amazing would be if I had gotten my Nobel Prize I am still waiting on!

* * *

(A few hours later)

Seriously. Seto needs help with his Blue Eyes White Dragon obsession. I know that I'm not Kisara or anything but the fact that practically everything he owns is in refrence to that is both humbling and strange. Even his private jet is styled to look like the dragon! It has wings and everything! It's really cool looking but still very much weird.

I stood before the great white jet in partial awe and because i was too lazy to walk at the moment. Also because I was a little apprehensive about flying. I was a childhood prisoner in Germany who came to America with her four friends on a cargo ship; I have never been on a plane.

"You look a little feeble," Seto commented at my side.

I glanced at him then turned my attention back to his jet. "Just never had my feet thousands of feet abouve the ground." I sighed loudly then asked, "Please tell me that someone capable is driving us."

"Don't worry. I'm flying it," he answered.

_God, thy Lord and savior, please and thusly protect thee and thy loved ones upon this journey in hope that we shan't stumble upon misfourtune. Amen._ Now my stress has lessoned by about 2%. Not good enough but it's a start. "Since when did you learn how to fly a plane?"

"Since before you had a right to know," he answered.

Jerk. "Okay just please don't kill us."

Seto took me by suprise and wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his presence. I'm no stranger in being this far behind his walls, but the experience still rattled me a little. You try being held by this guy and tell me that it's not a little unnerving. Pleasent but unnerving. We weren't hugging, he jest held my waist and myself very, very, very close to him, though my arms did not lock around his torso and there was about a centimeter gap between his belt and my bellybutton (since he was so tall). I wanted to dart my eyes away from staring at him, but as soon as those dark cobalt eyes locked with mine, it paralyzed me and kept my veiw insync with his strangely warm stare.

"I'd never kill you." Seto had his head bowed down so his eyes were still locked in mine despite our height difference. "I'd never want to hurt you. And I feel nothing but the most agonizing of regrets for what happened with the explosion." He held my chin up to him and his eyes slightly narrowed in the most captivating way. Everything about his sharp handsome features suddenly made themselves unmistakably present. All I saw was him and all around me I could only feel us and what we are. His head moved ever so much closer to me and I let my eyelids fall ever so lightly. The tension was unimaginable. We've both known that this was bound to happen sooner or later, but I never imagined that kissing him would be this real, even though it hasn't happened yet. And apparently it never will because right then his phone began to ring and interupted the moment.

STUPID CELL PHONES!

Seto backed away and I turned back around and stared at my feet in disappointment. Man, we were so close to. Why can't we just be together? Does the universe just hate us or something?

"Kaiba," Seto answered. He listened for a few seconds then answered, "Well, I'll deal with it later. Right now Aria and Roland are in charge so take it up with them."

Seto hung up and sighed. "What's the matter?" I asked.

"It's nothing. I can deal with it later."

"Is it something to do with that Quinn guy?"

He smirked a little. "Yeah. It was just the FBI calling to inform me that Nicholas Quinn was not and has never been an agent of the U.S. goverment. Like I didn't already know that."

My eyes were glued to the ground and my mind was somewhere else. How could Seto be so asthetic abut this? If I hadn't had torn that briefcase from him then he would be dead. Does he not realize that?

Seto brushed his hand on my cheek lightly and added, "It's nothing you should worry about either."

I tore away from him and retorted, "Seto! You almost died-!"

His voice rose to out-do my volume. "No! Elektra, you're the one who almost died!" The brown hair sheided his face briefly before he turned away from me. "And it's all because of me."

I immediantly became angry. "It is not because of you Seto!" Aside from the severity of the conversation, I couldn't help but find humor. "Stop making this moment so sappy. We're not in a chick-flick, so stop acting like a primadonna and be a man."

His rage lightened and even managed a small smile.

About a half-hour later it was time to depart. Planes are safe, right? Well, except for Final Destination, Snakes on the Plane, and a bunch of other things. Urgh, I'm gonna die so much. Well, at least I wasn't the one most scared in this situation. That would be Blaze. The plane we were on was pretty small, probably only able to comfortably hold twenty people or so and had abundant space for leisure, so Blaze, Mokuba, and I sat in the same row with me next to the window and Mokuba at the end with Blaze in the middle. She had her left hand digging into my shoulder and her right into Mokuba's. Seto was in the cockpit acting as our pilot, but Mokuba said that he'll turn on the autopilot after awhile to sleep or go to the bathroom.

They were saying something, probably Blaze freaking about something again, but I was preoccupied in my own thoughts when I heard a shift in the hum of the engine and saw the runway pass the wing of the plane. My eyes went wide. _Oh shoot, oh shoot, oh shoot. We're flying._ We already had our seatbelts but I still found myself craving for security.

"Okay this is good!" Blaze proclaimed as the plane rose higher into the sky. "This was a great vacation we can go home now! Get me off!"

Mokuba wrapped his hand into her's and tried to calm her down. "C'mon Bells. We're about to be in paradise."

Even though I was near scared beyond my sanity limit, I still had to at least act brave. So I turned to her and smiled. "Yeah! Pretty soon we'll be on a white sand beach feeling the chill of the salty ocean breeze as all our troubles float away with the tides."

Her frail eyes darted at me as she replied, "Yeah. That's if Kaiba doesn't screw up and we all end up being forcefully ejected through the roof of the plane into the frigid sky as we feel our last moments being filled with nothing but oxygen deprived air peeling away at our breaths and terror before we perilously drop into the ocean where our only fate is to be eaten by a frenzy of sharks!"

"You two are really disturbed," Mokuba commented.

We turned to him and unanimously answered, "We know."

A few mere moments later and when I took my second gutsy look out of my window and our mansion home looked more it for a Barbie. My stomach felt like it was in my throat and my heart was pumping but something about the adreniline was intoxicating. Being so far from trivial issues of social life, I finally felt happy.

* * *

Dang this took forever to write. Sorry for the two week wait guys! I just got a new phone and I was busy with EOCs and I was writing SD: Dementia so... yeah.

Elektra: And where the heck is my Nobel Prize?!

Good Lord Elektra! How'd you get in the author's notes?

Elektra: Uh, don't worry about it. You're writing this so you tell me M.

(Face palm) Ugh... You're not gonna get a Nobel Prize for discovering that Kaiba's a robot 'cause HE'S NOT A ROBOT!

Elektra: Well I should just get it because I'm just awesome like that.

I'm writing this so I can make you non-awesome and I can kill you very badly! Just think of me having a Death Note and with the full power to write yo' name up in it!

Girl Who Should Shut Up: Why are you acting so weird...? And why did you change my name?!

Just stay quiet 'till I get done advising the readers!

Elektra: Readers? How many's that? Like seven?

(Starts listening to music in her headphones and ignores the white-haired girl) Anyways, thank you guys for support and don't forget to look up Strike Down: Dementia when you get the chance. I worked really hard on it and to make it more mature than this story. And about the homosexuality thing, I am really ticked off when people use the word gay in a negative way. I'm not gay personally, but I know people who are and it's just as offensive when someone says the "n" word or call white people crackers or women tools. Just don't become numb to what you're saying. And the word danke means "thank you" in German. That's all for now.

Elektra: Later!

That's my line!


	23. Immer Besser

Sorry about the German titles, their frequency will stop (If I feel like it). On chapter thirty there will be something that says "End of Part One", which means that I'll be taking a small break to finish writing Strike Down: Dementia. That doesn't mean that I'm finished writing Strike Down, it just means that the first part is over. And if you want to be occupied 'till then, then catch up on the prequel to this. Plus there're some easter-egging in there and some hints on what's gonna play out. I'll already have the next few chapters ready but I just won't post them (cause I'm evil that way).

So later on, about two chapters from now, there'll be another interlude and I'll finish part one off with something very interesting (evil smile and maniacal laughter). Well, enjoy 'till then.

* * *

Strike Down

Twenty-three: Immer Besser (Getting Better)

* * *

Stupid love.

Blaze impatiently pushed one of the buttons hanging above her and yawned. It's been about an hour since we left for our six hour trip to Seto's private island. I was busy listening to some music and watching the ocean calmly lap underneath the jet. Mokuba was occupying himself with his phone. It's only a hour or so since we had taken off and we're already bored like crazy. Though I hope that our actaul vacation isn't like this.

A few moments later, the door to the cockpit opened and Seto came walking out, starlting my sister.

"Hey! Whatta ya doing in here?!" She screeched. "You're supposed to be flying this thing!"

He took her concern lightly. "Take it easy. The plane's on auto-pilot. I'll just need to take over when we need to land." He took the seat opposite of me and leaned back then replied, "I need a quick nap before I we land anyways. Wouldn't want me to miss and drive us straight into the ocean."

Blaze eased herself and commented, "So long as you don't text and fly." Her eyes grew big as she pulled and pushed me energeticly. "Hey we should play that game you tought me!"

"What game?" Mokuba asked.

"Imagineiff!"

I sighed. "Blaze, Imagineiff is a board game and I don't have it with me right now."

She was disappointed at first then regained her perkiness. "Imagine if we were the Justice League. Who would be Batman?"

"Seto," Mokuba answered.

I agreed. "Yup. It'd be Seto."

He furrowed his eyes. "Why me?"

"You have the money for it for one thing," Blaze elaborated.

"And the attitude," I added. "But you need a stronger build and black hair."

"What's wrong with my build?"

Oh crap. "Oh, nothing! You look perfect!" Oh double crap. Immediently all eyes turned to me and my face went white because I was too embarassed to blush red. "I mean... um... Imagine if Mokuba was a Disney Princess. Would he be Belle, Jasmine, Ariel, Cinderella, Aurora, or Snow White?"

"Why do I hafta to be a Disney Princess?" Mokuba complained. "I'm not even a girl! Why not choose Blaze?!"

I shrugged. Honestly I just wanted to change the topic away from what I said about his older brother. And it's working! Phew, that was about to be ridiculously awkward.

"Well, I think you'd be Snow White," Blaze said.

His face went blank. His own girlfriend was going along with this now. "Oh, c'mon! I don't wanna be Snow White! All she did was sing to random woodland animals and live with seven bipolar short people! Not to mention that she randomly marries some guy who kissed her dead body when she was fourteen!" He turned to his older brother resting beside him. "Help me out, bro!"

"I kinda agree with her," Seto replied.

And I agreed with him.

"Fine!" Mokuba responed angrily. "Imagine if you all were all the opposite sex of what you already are. What would be your transgender name?"

Damnit. Of all the things he could have chose...

"Boston," Blaze answered.

We all turned to look at her the same way they all looked at me when I said something stupid.

"That's the name of a city," Seto pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but so is Brooklyn and Paris but you don't see me bitching about that now do ya Mr. Kaiba?" He _hmph_ed and turned away. Then she continued, "Besides, what would your name be?"

"I don't care."

"Hm, great name. Ms. _I-Don't-Care,_" Blaze teased.

"My name'd be Einstein," I said. "Which is awesome 'cause I'd still be German and be a genius."

"Mirajane," Mokuba stated.

"What you mean that chick off of Fairy Tail with gigantic boobs?" I asked.

He nodded. "That way I'll have something interesting to look at when I try to count my toes!"

I faceplamed and Blaze scoffed and turned away with her arms crossed. Seto just lightly laughed at his brother's statement. Oh good Lord, he probably taught him that. Ugh, men. Mokuba saw Blaze's suedo distress and tried to mend his words.

"Well, I wouldn't want to dishonor my lady by putting her in that context."

Nice save.

Then he reached over and kissed her forehead and whispered an apology which did not safice. When that didn't work, he tickled her until she finally accepted his apology. The situation quickly snapped back to me.

"Y'know," Blaze added after her laughing stopped, "Elektra kinda looks like Mirajane. Like, alot." She turned her attention to Seto who was still trying to take a nap. "You have some anime fetish before you met us?"

He opened his eyes briefly just for us to know he was rolling them. "I met you when I was like nine. Fairy Tail wasn't even out yet." He closed his eyes again and smirked. "Okay, my turn." Wait. Seto's actually getting into this? I was scared. You should all be scared. For this is not normal. "Imagine if Elektra and I were dating. Who would give the first kiss?"

The silence was only permeable to the soft hum of the engine. All eyes were wide except for one and half of the mouths were open. I remained staring at Seto, my eyes paralyzed with his question still lingering in my atmosphere. He seemed perfectly calm, as he always was except when challanged, leaning back in his chair quietly content. I always have to wonder what's going on in that mind of his. Because sometimes, like right now, I fear that he has lost it.

"It depends on what kinda kiss," Blaze said.

"Yeah," Mokuba added, "because if it was a cheek kiss then it would definately be Elektra."

Blaze picked up where he left off. "But if it was like a lip kiss or a throat kiss that it would definately be Seto."

I couldn't answer, so Seto did. "That's what I was thinking."

Holy shit he was _thinking_ that? I felt just beyond awkward, so I made an attempt to leave. I rose and started walking elsewhere, the bathroom maybe. Sure, it's small and compacted but at least in there I'll be in solitude. "Um, I'm just gonna... leave... now."

* * *

(Seto's POV)

Yeah, that was real smooth right there. Just blurt out your personal desire to the girl you're attracted to, that's real smart. No wonder he doesn't have a girlfriend yet. After Elektra left, Seto remained laying down with a blank expression on his face, though on the inside he was fuming with his own infatuation. How dare he, someone with everything a human being has ever desired to be or have, let himself faulter in the presence in someone as flawed as Elektra? Is this supposed to be love? Because if it was, it really has a habit of kicking his ass. Love always compells him to go out of his way for her, and it forces him to have a cooler attitude around her. And it sucked. Seto Kaiba isn't nice. He's a feared quaternay worker with the world in the palm of his hand, not a lovey-dovey boyfriend with a phone full of predominately smiley-faced text messages.

Still he could not hold back everything. Elektra will always be a major influence on his life, no matter what the future contains. There is too strong of a bond for there to be nothing. Wether it actually be love, cruch, or misunderstanding, there is something there. Even though Elektra isn't Kisara, the girl the Nerd Herd prophisize him to be with, he honestly didn't give a damn. Elektra was here and she was his.

More of recent, she has gone to lock herself in the lavatory, probably about to spend the next hour trying to figure out how to make a noose with toilet paper. Not that he could blame her. He just basically confessed that he liked her, which would be an open invitation for most of his stalkers. But Elektra was someone with actual intelligence and a respectable lifestyle given the circumstances. So obviously what he had just stated must've come as a shock to her. In his defense, he hasn't had a level head since the terrorist attacks.

"Hey Seto," Blaze called from her seat.

"What?" he moaned, enormously sleep-deprived.

"Why'd the chicken cross the road?"

"To get away from you."

His brother laughed, but Blaze didn't find it funny.

"To get to the transvestite's house," Blaze answered.

"Oh." Seto was unimpressed. He tried to go back to sleep before Blaze interupted him again.

"Hey Seto."

"What?" This time he answered her irritably.

"Knock-knock."

Good lord she's annoying. Seto loves her as a friend and he'd do almost anything for her, but one day soon he will have duct tape surgically sown on her mouth. "Who the hell is it?"

"It's the chicken."

"Oh... Wait, what?!"

Blaze and Mokuba started bursting out in laughter, but his glare remained steely and unmendable. The two eventually got the message and let him to go play some game somewhere else. After they left, Seto thought that he could finally find some peace. That was until Elektra came back and layed down in the chair next to him. She was staring at him, her crystal blue eyes wide with a child's amusement. Such things would usually apall him, but he made an exception for her. Stupid love.

"What?" he grunted, his cobalt eyes just barely slits out of fatigue.

"I've never seen you sleep before," she answered.

He grinned slightly. "So?"

"People look so peaceful when they sleep. It's captivating, especially when people as headstrong as you sleep."

"Well, just so you know, my maids have told me that I am prone to talk in my sleep when I have nightmares."

Elektra laughed lightly and refitted herself in the chair and replied, "Then have a nice dream."

_A nice dream, huh?_ Seto yawned loudly, barely able to keep himself awake. Though through many years of having to deal with prolonged hours at the office and a year of sleepless nights back when Egyptian monsters walked the streets of Domino and since his trip back into ancient times. That Kisara girl gave her life for him- no, she gave her life to some Egyptian Priest. And besides the entire thing was either an illusion or some mirage from the Cairo heat.

"Oh, am I keeping you up?" Elektra questioned. "I'll shut up if you want me to."

He shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

"No, you need to sleep. 'Cause if you're half-assing on the landing and make us all die, I will push you out of Heaven myself."

"Kinda harsh."

He turned his attention back upwards and momentarily forgot about Elektra. And in that one, momentary second, he fell asleep.

* * *

(Flashback. Kinda missed these.)

The lady at the desk shuffled the paper and handed it back to Gozaburo. She handed him the adoption forms and congradualted him on the new additions to his family. Psh. More like two extra forms of baggage. Seto knew that Gozaburo already hated both him and his brother; well he just kicked his ass at chess, humiliating him and crushing his egotistical pride, and forced him into adopting him and his brother. Mokuba clentched Seto's sleeve in worry. He knew as well as his older brother that Gozaburo Kaiba was not the father they once had and that he could never fill in his shoes. The middle-aged man glared down at his two new children in asktance.

"Big brother..." Mokuba murmered.

Seto looked back down at his brother and held his hand tightly. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

Mokuba didn't believe him. This man was not going to be a father. Something about the way his demeanor came off as cinical and malicious. He was just a sorry man with big bucks. Mokuba knew that his brother was only doing this so that he could give him the best outcome possible, but money meant nothing to Mokuba. All he's ever wanted in a family was a loving mommy and daddy with whom to love and cherish him for him, not to use Seto as an item of fame due to his extensive knowledge and charm. No one ever seemed to care about _them_.

As Gozaburo walked off to fill out the adoption forms, Seto turned around and noticed a small face peek around the trunk of a tree. He told Mokuba to wait for him as he went outside to the familiar little girl. He turned around the tree and saw a paralyzed ten-year-old Elektra squeezing her eyes shut, as if closing her eyes would stop him from seeing her.

"Elektra," he said, "I can see you."

She exhaled loudly and plummeted down on her bottom like she was exhausted. "I know. I just can't believe you're getting adopted."

Neither could he. Though he was happy to see her before he left so he can mend the fault that had been made after their fight so they could part ways in peace. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life mad at a girl he would never see again.

"Ella, I-"

"_Leiber habe ich nicht Englisch sprechen_," she interupted.

"Hey, don't you German me."

She sighed and turned away. "I'm not a fan of good-byes, okay?"

"Hey, I made a promise to you."

Elektra stood back up and leveled with his eyes since at that age his growth hadn't taken effect yet. "Seto, what day is it?"

"Valentine's Day?"

There was a calm silence between them. A soft, mildly chilled breeze blew from the east which made Elektra's now mid-spine-lengthed hair dance in its gust. The wind picked up a few orange leaves and dropped them as soon as it stopped, leaving them suspeneded at the slow mercy of gravity.

Suddenly, Elektra moved forward and kissed him. Not a cheek or forehead kiss, like an actual kiss. The kind everyone other twelve-year-old thinks is yucky. For Seto, however, it was pleasent. Three seconds later and it was over and the little white-haired girl backed away from him. He was confused, he had never been kissed before, and now he wanted even less to leave the orphanage. He thought about bringing her with them, but then they would need to bring Blaze and doubling the amount the orphans Gozaburo doesn't even want is a definate deal breaker. He had to bid farwell to his best friend.

* * *

Seto awoke a few hours later slowly as his dream was too depressing for him to awake with much motivation. Though, waking up to the face he bid farewell to all those years ago was a little humbling. At least he never had to say good-bye to her again. He glanced over to the window and saw how dark it was. They would land soon, so now would be a good time for him to wake up.

He quietly and carefully pulled the seat back in place and stretched. Before walking over over to the cockpit, he turned back and saw Blaze and Mokuba sleeping soundly in the back of the plane on the last row. He walked back their and gently buckled them in as he did not want to disturb their slumber on their decent. Lastly, he walked back up front and did the same to Elektra. He gave on backwards glance at his sleeping beauty before going back to the cockpit.

She was right, people did look content while sleeping. And now he was safice with the fact that there would be no more good-byes between him and Elektra. It was one of the few advantages of feeling love.

* * *

Sorry that this took forever but I have been really busy with school work and a crap ton of personal stuff. None have to do with bullying, I can handle that. And I know this chapter was really uneventfull but the next two will not. No they will not he-he-he-he! (Evil laughing) Also I now have an editor who will go through and clean out my chapters before I post them. Her name is Abby and she is a good friend of mine and she will be helping me on most of my stories. Except for the Death Note one I have in mind that I will publish a few months from now because she has not seen the ending. I have and I've been doing my best not to spoil it and must ask for you all not to spoil it either.

So please review and check out my other story! Later!


	24. Shark

No this chapter has nothing to do with the Zexal character. Quite frankly I hate everything after 5Ds and I'm not the greastest fan of GX. But seriously Zexal is a complete clone of the original series. I really wish that they could do something with the first and second series and kinda roll with everything they left off, I mean c'mon there were a ton of things that were just kinda dangling there when they ended it. And this kinda peeves me, but why the hell is the series still called Yu-Gi-Oh if Yugi's not even in it anymore? Don't tell me that I'm the only person who thinks this. Anyways, at least we have FanFiction where we can pick off where they left off. Awesome :3

And everyone needs pay your respects to Abby for her great job on editing the last chapter. I don't know what would safice, but I would recommend you sacrificing the souls of eleven One Direction CDs by violently breaking them apart with a sledge hammer and lighting them on fire. Only then can we ever truly be free.

Also, I now exist on Deviant Art under the same name as my FF account so if you guys have ever wondered what any of my characters lokked like or anything go check me out :)

Enjoy.

* * *

Strike Down

Twenty-four: Shark

* * *

To be that close to power and not suffer from it is immensly humbling.

I remember a light humming as I felt a strange rumbling in my stomach; not a burp rumble but like you're on a really crappy wooden roller coaster and the bumping on your ascent shakes you before you plummet to an impending death should the safety devices (basically a rusty iron bar) fail. So my stomach was shaking lightly and yet I did not awaken from my sleep. At least, I think I didn't. Maybe my eyes were just closed the entire time. Though it wasn't incredibly prominent so I was at peace either way.

I could tell that it was night because the harsh rays of the Sun weren't biting at my eyelids. People think it's so peaceful to be awakened by the Sun, well it's not. It freaking annoys me; like an alarm clock for your eyes. Sometimes I wished I lived in Alaska where there are thirty days of night. Then again, I'd be hiding under my bed for a month fearful of bloodthirsty vampires. Not the stupid Twilight vampires who complain about everything and glitter in the sunlight like they're made of sequins, I'm talking like land shark vamps. The kind that eat all of you and only view blood as liquid refreshment.

So it was dark, probably night, and I was too at-peace to move about. Last I remembered, Seto and I fell asleep, though he fell asleep long before I did. He didn't mumble in his sleep, and according to him that meant that he was having a good dream. For him that most likely means that he was dreaming about repeatedly beating Yugi and Joey at Duel Monsters or telling an entire elementary school that Santa isn't real. Or maybe it was a dream of murdering unicorns or ridding the world of Skittles so that no one could taste the rainbow. I really don't know with him. He never acts nice long enough to ever see his true interests, because dealing pain on those who do not deserve such an agony should never be a source of joy. Especially Seto, he's not evil. Confused and battered, but not evil. I've lived too much of my life in the hands of one's necromania and sadist beliefs to know that Seto was not a man of the same predicament.

My mind slowly drifted back to sleep, and I found myself experiencing a horrific dream on par with that of every slasher movie ever made. I kept seeing people die by father's hand. It was all in quick bursts; people screaming, pleading, dying, blood, screaming, dismemberment, blood, bones, the sounds of bones cracking, blood, screaming, dying, death, then me. And then there was me. Standing alone in the dark staring at my father with his back turned to me. His white trench coat had blood splattered all over it and he was hunched over, breathing heavily with a carving knife in hand also splattered with blood. I called to him, but he did not reply. Then suddenly he lunged at me with his knife aiming at my heart.

But it was only a dream.

I felt a small shake on my arm as Seto woke me up. I twitched into a state of fear in response to my nightmare with my eyes broad and my senses enhanced. But I was nowhere close to Germany, quite frankly I was on the complete opposite side of the world, and I was with Seto, Blaze, and Mokuba. Not my father. Plus my father would never do that to me. He may be bat-shit insane but he had some boundaries.

"Oh, another nightmare?" Seto questioned.

I nodded quietly.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," I answered almost inaudibly.

"You can get outta your seat-belt now," Seto said softly. "We're here."

I smiled, relieved to finally be on terra firma again. I unbuckled my seat-belt, stood up, then stretched. As I turned back behind me I realized that our little siblings were missing.

"They're already outside," Seto answered my tacit question.

I managed a reply by nodding my head and faking a grin. The dream was still lurking around in my memory. Even though Father would never do that to me, he slaughtered a countless number of other people the same way if not worse. Father was a horrible man through and through, but I could never hate him. I started making my way to the door and when I opened it, the night was so dark and star-deprived that I missed the first step of the stairs and nearly fell all the way down if Seto had not caught me. He grabbed me by the back of my navy blue hoodie and pulled me back just a little too hard and I fell backward on top of him.

Blushing comes easier to me now lately for "some reason", so you could guess what I was doing right now. My face landed on his upper chest where his neck began and my legs were in-between his. If he is not blushing because of this, then he has freaking nerves of steel. I pulled myself off of him and apologized.

"S-s-sorry," I stuttered.

Seto grunted and sat upright as did I. Only he didn't attempt to move away from me. Instead he bowed his forehead to mine, arching his spine slightly to meet my height, and his eyes were locked with mine even though I was purposely looking away from him. And his face was evenly peach unlike mine with patches of red on the cheeks. Damn him and his lack of modest emotions.

"Elektra," He spoke my name in almost a hum; you know, all deep and masculine and yet still perfectly clear. "I need to tell you something."

Oh God, oh God, oh God! My heart was pumping blood faster than i could handle. "What?"

Before he could answer, before he could freaking answer, Blaze had to interrupt.

"Hey Elektra!" she beckoned from somewhere outside. "Look! I'm making a sand-angel!"

In my head, I was yelling all sorts of sinful curses. Most worse than I care to share since they were hasty and pungent with regret if they were ever said. I rolled my eyes and stood back up and lent Seto a hand so he could do the same. I tried to examine his face, but it was as blank as ever.

I had nothing left to say. The conversation and whatever he wanted to say was lost. I hated that I had to leave the subject behind. This is probably going to sound really childish, but I actually thought that he was going to... y'know, ask me out. It was pure fantasy, but a girl can dream. I walked out of the jet, not missing the step this time and falling into Seto (as much as I was tempted to) and made it down where I could barely see Blaze lying down on the beach since it was so dark. I didn't immediately see Mokuba anywhere yet, though I guess that he's wandering around here somewhere.

"The sand is so soft!" Blaze exclaimed joyfully.

"We've been on sand before," I said, unimpressed, "We've lived on an island for half of our lives."

She jumped up playfully and replied, "But that sand had rocks and broken glass and needles in it!"

Seto turned to me. "Needles?"

"Hey, I told you that my father was a maniac. He just so happened to litter a lot of his utensils."

Blaze's scarlet eyes dilated in anxiety. "You told him?"

Oh right. I hadn't yet told Blaze that Seto knows of our pasts. "Well, yeah."

She rushed forward and latched onto my shoulders. "Please! Don't tell Mokuba!"

Me and Seto looked at each other in bewilderment and replied unanimously, "Why?"

"Because I haven't told him and I never will tell him! If he knew what I really was he'd never talk to me again! He'd think that I was some kind of freak!"

Seto smugly responded, "My brother is a lot of things, but I know for sure that he is not shallow. And besides, he has a right to know now that you two are in a relationship."

Blaze sighed and finally gave in. "Okay. I'll tell him, but only when the time's right."

Seto _hmph_ed and walked away from us towards a gorgeous house a few yards away. Apparently her answer sufficed We soon followed and may I just say that it was _so_ worth the wait. The beach house wasn't as large and magnificent as the mansion, but it was tasteful none the less. It was about two stories tall and completely made of bamboo sliding and other native wood. It was on stilts as a precautionary measure defense from monsoons and tsunamis. It was square in shape but still very large in size. Off to the side of it and currently behind us was a lonely runway lacking in radio towers since everything here was privately owned.

As we walked inside, everything was fresh and clean and neatly organized. Everything inside was made with sturdy yet flexible wood and most of the walls where made with sliding panels. There were thriving tropical plants abundant in there along with rattan furniture with white cushions. In the kitchen, the table was low to the ground and pillows took the place of the chairs. The living room had a widescreen television and a horseshoe-shaped white couch and a dark brown coffee table in between.

I sat my duffle bag beside the couch in the living room next to Blaze's. I walked into the kitchen where Seto was taking inventory on our food supply. "Um, hey Seto?"

He stood up and glanced back at me and replied, "Yes?"

"If you haven't been here for about seven years, then how come everything is clean and we have no rotting food?"

"I called a man on a nearby island to come and spruce up the place before we arrive," he answered. "He works on the other vacation islands other people own and we bought the place from him."

I nodded and turned to leave before turning back for a split second. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight Seto."

He muttered something and returned to his task. He was probably just tired, or just being himself. Maybe a mixture of both. I walked up the stairs and started to look for my room. There were only two bedrooms, so Blaze and I would sleep in one room and Seto and Mokuba in another. Unlike downstairs where there were sliding screen walls, the ones up here were solid. Probably because these are where the bedrooms and bathrooms are and I don't want anybody to see me do my business.

I walked down the hall and knocked on the door at the end. I just wanted to be careful since I don't know what's a bathroom and what's a bedroom and I don't know who I might walk in on. No one answered, so I gently opened the door to a pearly white bathroom. At least no one was using it. So I went into the room next to it where I found my sister already in her pajamas and fast asleep. Quietly, I changed into my nightwear and snuggled in close to my sister. The bed-sheets were thin, probably due to the warm winters in this sector of the globe, but just in case I stuck my foot out of the sheets like I always do to keep my body temperate. That way I don't get too hot and sweaty. The cool night breeze shook some of the palms outside, and the dim light of the moon shone through the window by our bed. Jet-lagged and drowsy, I gave in to my fatigue and was lulled to sleep by the silence.

* * *

A loud gasp awoke me from my tranquil slumber. I turned over, groggy and sleepy, to my sister who was already out of bed taking her pajama bottoms off. She turned to me and covered her undies and crossed her legs.

"Don't look I'm naked!" she shrieked.

I rolled my eyes. "Blaze, you're practically my sister. It's not like I'm aroused or anything."

Blaze blushed faintly and backed away. "I don't care! It's still really weird!"

I groaned. "Well, what're you doing anyways?"

"I'm changing into my bathing suit. Duh."

"You don't need to be swimming this early in the morning. You haven't even eaten yet."

"Well, if I eat then I'll hafta wait an hour to swim."

"I'm not even sure if the boys are up yet." I paused to sit up and stretch. There's no use in trying to go back to sleep. For some reason, once I wake up I can't go back to sleep. "Besides, sharks like to feed early in the morning."

She glanced over at the clock. "It's 8:23. It's not that early."

"It's early enough. Do you really wanna be the only one in the water if one was to show up?"

A grim look shrouded her face. One of terror.

I sighed and attempted to mend what I have done. "Sorry. I was just messing with you. Quite frankly, there's more of a chance for you to get struck by lightning or drown in your own bathtub than getting attacked by a shark." I smiled in attempt to lighten the mood. "And if you get attacked once and survive, then you can swim fearlessly in the ocean 'cause what would be the chance of that happening twice?"

Finally, she managed a grin. "If I get attacked twice, then I would be expecting to start seeing a unicorn sometime soon."

Good. I didn't want to frighten my sister from ever getting into the ocean. It's a vast wonder, not an impending nightmare. And the creatures there are no exception. the thing is, I'm still and will always fear sharks. I don't think that any sane human can ever say that they're not afraid of sharks. Fear is an awareness that danger lies in that object or action, so it would be common knowledge that a sizable shark is fully capable of killing and devouring a human. Though the chance is minimal, there is still a chance. I just wanted her to be aware of that.

Something else crossed my mind that I felt compelled to make her aware of. "Oh, keep it down for awhile. Like I said, I don't think that Seto and Mokuba are awake yet."

She huffed and plopped down on her butt onto the bed. "So what'm I supposed to do?"

I shrugged. "Slap a tree."

She turned and slapped a plant by our bed.

"That was a fern. I said to slap a tree."

"What's the difference?! Besides, I'd hafta go outside to slap a real tree and in order to do that I would need to make at least a little noise."

Blaze was a pain I couldn't live without. I grinned halfheartedly and stood up. "Put your pants back on," I said. "I'll go downstairs and start making breakfeast." She jumped up and squealed in joy before I hushed her. "And be quiet! I already hafta deal with Seto when he's cranky for no reason, I'd hate to deal with him when he _has_ a reason."

Her toothy smile was a mischievous one, but I knew I could trust Blaze with this. Because if she'd proved me wrong, she'd wake up the next morning very confused with green, glow-in-the-dark skin. Just because people think I'm nice and innocent doesn't mean I am. Especially when it come to getting revenge on my sister when she embarrasses me in front of you-know-who.

She pulled her pajama bottoms on then together we crept soundlessly down the hallway and down the stairs. Blaze went into the living room and turned the T.V. on with the volume very low. I peeked into the fridge and began shifting through it, trying to find the necessary food items I had planned for breakfast. In my arms I carried turkey bacon, regular bacon, cinnamon rolls, eggs, and seasoning over to the counter and began my work. For Seto and Mokuba, I was making them omelets and pork bacon since neither me or Blaze care for eggs or pork bacon. She turned me off of eggs since she protested that eggs are like a chicken's period some years ago, and I just personally prefer turkey bacon. While the cinnamon rolls were in the oven and the eggs were sizzling on the skillet, I started making Seto's coffee (because that's really the only thing I've seen him drink other than water, Coke, and juice occasionally) and I pulled out three cups for me, Blaze, and Mokuba. Instantly I knew that I would have chocolate milk and that Blaze would prefer apple juice, and I just figured that Mokuba would like orange juice.

I sprinkled some more seasoning over the omelets as I checked on the bacon sizzling in the corner of the stove. The coffee was done, so I scurried over to retrieve the mug and placed it by the plate meant for his breakfast. For a few brief seconds, I was free from duty as everything was taking its time cooking. I wiped my forehead and cleaned the grease from my hands with a towel. Right then, I heard an elated shout from upstairs and the thuds of someone fastly making their way down. Behind me, Mokuba stepped off the stairs and slid a good yard on his socks against the lacquer floor. He faltered on his entry, but managed to keep his balance and refrain from falling.

"Fooooood!" he called, mouth practically watering.

"Nope. Sorry, it's poison," I joked.

That didn't detour the little thirteen-year-old. He rushed forward and took a big whiff of the meal cooking. "Mmmm, that smells great."

"You and your brother like pork bacon and omelets, right?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yep! If something smells _this_ good, then it can only be delicious!"

Phew. I've cooked for people all the time, but one has to be wary with someone as opinionated as his big brother. Speaking of which, where is he anyways? My unspoken answer was answered when Seto came walking down the stairs rubbing the palm of his and over his face. Somehow his hair was as neat as ever and his face showed no sign of weariness. For me, my hair tangles as if I spent the whole night tossing on turning on my head alone and my eyes never really seemed to rid the haziness until I stand in direct sunlight for thirty seconds or drink chocolate milk. Pft. Guys have it lucky sometimes.

He sniffed in the aroma of the food and turned towards me. "Since when do you know how to cook?"

I smirked and leaned back on the counter. "I've spent over ten years caring for myself and my sister alone; I know my way around cuisine."

He glanced down then back at me. "Your hand's on the stove."

I retracted my burning hand as the scent of my burning flesh mixed with the food. I didn't facially react, though I wafted it in the air, grateful to feel even a little chill on my skin. I remained smiling, though inside my conscience was screaming all sorts of German swears. "That it was."

Mokuba was the only one with visible concern. "Are you alright?"

"It's not the worst thing to happen to this hand."

A smug grin grew on Seto's face.

"Oh, grow up!"

A few minutes later and breakfast was finished. As much as Blaze and Mokuba wanted to eat while watching the television, Seto preferred for us to eat at the Japanese-styled kitchen table. Something to do with him not trusting in Blaze's eating habits and her getting food all over the couch and floor. Not that I blame him.

Afterwards, Blaze bombarded me with pleas to finally go swimming. Mokuba did the same with his brother until eventually we unanimously agreed to their demands. They hurried up to their rooms to change. I glanced over at Seto who was still finishing his coffee.

"Are you going with us?" I asked.

He glanced over at me with his cobalt eyes. "Probably not."

My heart sank a little. I tried to hide the disappointment in my voice to no effect. "Why? It's not like you have something to do. We're on vacation."

"_You're_ on vacation," he corrected. "I still have to check stocks and..."

His voice trailed off. Ha, he didn't have any better excuse. "And what? Lie on your butt all day?"

Seto tipped his coffee cup in my direction. "Hey, that _is_ my vacation."

I rolled my eyes. "Y'know, sometimes I actually wish you and I could actually _do_ something for once." Good, that's vague enough to mean anything. He can take it any way he wants, but he can never use it as a reference. Knowing that he was about to answer, I got up disdainfully and walked upstairs to get into my bathing suit. Partially I was merely teasing him, but for the most part I was genuinely fed up with him. If he is just gonna lead me on forever, then I would rather spend my forever with someone who only has tomorrow to live! Unfair? Pft. Try putting yourself in my shoes.

* * *

Blaze and Mokuba were already in the water and Blaze was trying to teach him how to play colors. Mokuba was in black and purple trunks while Blaze was wearing the bathing suit she picked out that day: a black and red bikini with a long top that only gave an inch of midriff. The bottom had a black, red-tipped skirt that covered a portion more than without it.

"Okay," Blaze instructed. "First, you need to hold me in the water." She laid flat until she felt secure in Mokuba's grip. A bizarre look came over her face as she scolded, "Don't hold me _there_! Move your hand down."

His face was flushed in all hot shades. "Oh, sorry." He shifted his hand's position down until Blaze felt comfortable. "Now what?"

"Now think of a color."

"Orange."

She face-palmed. "Don't say it out loud."

"Oh." He took a brief moment to think of a new one. "Okay, got one."

Blaze grinned. "Now I just hafta guess what color your thinking of. If I get it wrong, dunk my head underwater for three seconds then let me back up. If I get it right, then throw me into the water!"

"Throw you? You sure?"

She nodded. "Don't worry! You wouldn't hurt me, I trust you." She pulled her head forward and kissed his cheek. "You're not the violent boyfriend anyways. Okay, now I'm gonna guess. Um... blue?"

Mokuba smirked and dumped her head in the water then puller her back up. She pinched her noise and laughed.

"Ew! Water went up my nose!"

Mokuba laughed in reply. "Keep guessing."

"Red?"

Another dunk.

"Green?"

He shook his head. Another dunk.

"Purple?"

A large smile grew on his face this time. He took a firm hold of Blaze and tossed her out into the sea a full three feet. I stood at the shore with my feet just into the overlapping waves. I couldn't help but laugh. I was just about to go in myself when I saw her teaching him the game.

Blaze made her way back up to the surface and squirted salt water out her mouth like a fountain. She wasn't mad though. In fact, she was rather enjoying herself. My sister turned and caught sight of me and waved at me.

"Hey Elektra!" she called. "C'mon in! The water doesn't bite!"

"No, but things in the water do," I joked as I made my way in. They were about fifteen feet from shore in chest-length depth for me and neck/collarbone-length depth for them. The water was crystal clear and the air was only mildly hot. It was a perfect day. Blaze and Mokuba continued playing their game while I simply waded in the deeper water.

I missed the feeling of the ocean. I haven't really swam much since I left Germany, but somehow my parents found time to teach me how to swim. I'm glad they did, 'cause since then I have actually had to rely on that skill for mere survival. My swimsuit reflected the ocean like a mirror. I was wearing a white bikini with a top that had thick straps that wrapped around my neck. The bottom was a petal-designed skirt with shorts underneath. So I was relaxing, letting my worries evade mt conscience for the time being so all I had to do was nothing. Just stay here and enjoy my day.

I shut my eyes and drifted away. But my peacefulness was soon disrupted by pure terror. My legs were grabbed by something and I was thrown backwards into the water. Immediately, I realized that there could be only one ocean predator to flip me over like that: a shark. The imagery of some beastly form of a apex predator tearing open my flesh was a terror that con only be experienced when you feel your heart burn with anxiety and then pause. I'm not afraid of sharks, it's when they come within physical contact with me does my terror let loose. I'd like to say I was petrified, but my limbs were flailing too much to fabricate that assumption.

Then I realized something: I'm not dead. I'm not even wounded. Dazed, I violently threw myself back over the surface to three beings standing before me. They were all laughing hysterically, and judging by the the presence of a brown haired male, I was more than capable of putting two and two together. Seto snuck up and flipped me over. Well, at least it wasn't a shark.

"You ass-face!" I cussed, splashing water at him. "I thought a shark killed me you douche-shit!"

He held his hands around his exposed abdomen and was partially hunched over, erupting in laughter. He tried to form an apology, but he was too amused with his prank. I had my hands on my hips and my face was burning with rage.

"This isn't funny! That really scared me!"

Seto tried to grab for my shoulder to give me some sense of comfort but I slapped it away. With much force I might add. His face morphed back to its usual stern self. "Hey. It was just a joke."

"Then why aren't I laughing?"

The laughing departed and was replaced in silence. Seto and I were locked in a stare, not one of those endearing stairs that I like, but one of those stares he gives to people right before he beats the crap outta them or something. Psh. Like he could hurt me. If he lays a finger on me, then his fist will go in his mouth, through his intestines, out his ass, and I'll repeat the process a few dozen times until he looks like an awkward human yo-yo.

My little sister swam up in between us and tried appealing to our sharpening attitudes. "Calm down Elektra. Seto was just trying to have fun with you." A bewildered look overcame her face as she commented, "I never knew those words could ever come from my mouth."

Seto glanced down at her, tacitly acknowledging his thanks to her aid, then returned his attention to me. "Elektra, I didn't mean to scare you."

My hands moved from my hips and over my chest in a crossed position and I hung my head into the clear water where I could see my feet resting on the sandy ground. Now the redness on my face was anger mixed with resentment. Unfortunately I was too childish to accept his apology so I just abandoned them all and began to swim around a craggy rock formation with them trying to stop me.

Behind me I could hear Blaze say, "Don't worry about her. She just needs time to cool off."

She was right of course, but at that time I didn't want to admit it. I had too much pride. As soon as I was on the opposite side to where they couldn't see me, I climbed up on a flat rock and curled up with my knees to my forehead. It was just a prank, don't I do the same thing on the daily? Why'd I get so mad? No, I wasn't mad. I was frightened. If I was really mad, then I wouldn't need a few minutes to cool down- I'd need the rest of their life.

I was being childish. I'm seventeen for Ra's sake. Psh, no wonder Seto thinks I'm annoying. Shame veiled over me and I felt the sea calling to me. Like the vast blue sea, we, too, must one day move on, my Aunt Jiya would say. I faded back into the ocean, but I still didn't feel too keen on facing Seto again (damn you pride!) so I spent a good few minutes wading around in the water and then proceeded to dive under. I loved to be in the water and be surrounded by serene beauty and a cool emptiness. Especially when I feel down, or in this case stupid. Under the waves, I was able to make out the shining bodies of several small fish as they sprinted away into the deeper ocean. I swam forward, away from the beach, until the depth was about thrice my height. Maybe more.

Looking down, I could see a cluster of clams and rocks and bottom dwellers resting on the sandy floor. I dove down to the bottom and began scavenging around the various shells and started to relax my mind. I just kinda idled around for a minute before I had to come up for a breath. So I resurfaced briefly then submerged yet again. This time, I saw no fish swimming around. The sea was still and silent. And the water seemed a little darker in tone. My instincts were peaked, but for whatever reason I was in denial of my fears running rapid. Fear is an awareness and I am fully aware that the ocean was empty and quiet, so what? In retrospect I wasn't acting wisely but I believe that I was just pissed because I could not find peace on this vacation! I was an idiot, I know.

I was about half-way to the bottom when I saw it. It was pretty far from me so at first I only saw this light gray figure off in the distance. At first I thought it was a fish, except it didn't have glittering scales that sparkled in the sunlight like a Twilight vampire. By that point I knew what it was, deep in my heart I knew what it was, but my stubborn pride and my idiotic denial kept me hopelessly believing that it was something else. _Oh, it's a dolphin! Oh, it's a turtle! Oh, it's a seal! _Oh hell no, it's a shark.

It's torpedo-shaped body came closer; straight towards me. My heart was racing. I could now tell that it was a great white, about twenty-five feet long, and it was a giant tank of nothing but pure muscle and razor sharp teeth capable of tearing through layers of flesh and later devouring you.

But I was partially relieved that it was a great white. No sharks ever go after humans, but there are those who are most prone to attack. On the top of that list is the bull shark, who is capable of surviving weeks in fresh water and is always pissed off. Like imagine giving PCP and steroids to an animal and trying to swim with it- that's what it would be like. Below that would be the tiger shark which eats anything. The great white, however, is still dangerous but because of my situation it is less likely to attack me. For one thing, great whites mostly attack surfers because the boards make them look like seals, and since I'm simply diving at least that gives me a slight advantage.

Finally, the shark swam right at me. We were actually face to face, though it's head was about five times bigger than mine. the entire time I was thinking _Oh my God! It's gonna bite my head off!_ But it didn't. It simply swam to the side of me at last minute and was literally a foot away from making physical contact. I wanted to reach out and rub my hand against its back, but I quickly discarded that notion. For one thing, if my hand rubs the wrong way then it's reinforced scales will graze my hand like a cheese-grater. Secondly, if I even move then the shark will probably turn back around and take a taste bite outta me. I wasn't even kicking my legs anymore, which meant that I was slowly floating to the surface. Sharks have the ability to detect the slightest movements by detecting the electricity made from every living being with hypersensitive glands at its nose. It can probably sense my heart beat right now, but I knew that if I start flailing my arms around and screaming like an idiot that it would surely attack. So I bid my time until I felt my back break against the surface and saw the dark grey body dissipate into the darker blue of the ocean.

I threw my head up and wiped the salty water from my stinging eyes. But I knew that it wasn't over. All at once I started to regret leaving my friends over some stupid prank. I started to regret every stupid decision I ever made. I don't wanna die like this. I don't wanna imagine Seto and Blaze hopelessly looking for a body they would never find. I don't wanna die knowing that they would have no closure. My eyes were begging to cry but I held back. If I start losing it now, it'll kill me for sure. I had a strange feeling so I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw a gigantic, torn dorsal fin glide out from the ocean. If I wanted to, I could kick one of my legs into it's gills because it was that close to me. Still, I remained calm and waited patiently for it to leave. It circled around me, contemplating on whether or not to attack me. Was I worth the effort? If it were to attack me, I'd give it one hell of a fight, and since I don't weigh that much it wouldn't have much of a meal. Between us, two separate species, we had a tacit understanding that I would not be worth the effort. I was an alien in this aquatic environment, I wasn't fat like a seal, and I have a hand for each eye I would rip out of its skull.

After its prolonged circling, it finally swam away into the deeper ocean. Immediately, I turned and slowly began to kick my way back to shore. If I was to hurry and sprint there, my movements would ring like a dinner bell for the shark to return. I was finally able to touch my toes on the sandy floor when I remembered that my friends were just on the other side of the rock formation. What if it were to attack them? When I was finally sure that the water wasn't deep enough for it to invade, I hurried onto the beach and ran around the rock wall and found Blaze, Seto, and Mokuba emerging from the water and onto the beach. Without warning, I plowed into Seto and wrapped my arms tightly around him, now relieved to be free of the terrors of a shark attacking me and a shark attacking my friends. I felt like crying, but I didn't. The shark didn't hurt me. I don't think it wanted to. To be that close to power and not suffer from it is immensely humbling. So, I'm just thankful to be alive.

Seto was confused at first, I mean, not thirty minutes ago I was pissed at him for no reason. But he eventually lightly held me back and asked, "Elektra? What happened?"

I couldn't immediately answer because I was too elated at the moment. "I'm sorry Seto! I was being childish and stupid and I feel so embarrassed but looking back on it, your prank was really funny!"

This only made everyone even more confused.

"Did you get sea water lodged in your skull?" Blaze asked with a bewildered look on her face. I turned toward her and released my grip on Seto and held my sister up in a tight embrace. "Oh good Christ Ella," she squeaked from lack of air due to my powerful grip, "You've been gone for an half-hour and you're already clingy as hell."

"Damn right," I commented, finally letting her go.

Mokuba smiled and said, "We were about to come look for you. We all agreed that it would be no fun if we spent the next week mad at each other for no reason. But since we found you, I guess we can all just go back in the water."

I laughed and replied, "Oh, no thank you. I just saw a shark stalk me not two minutes ago."

Blaze started laughing, thinking that I was kidding, until I told them the story. Blaze and Mokuba looked petrified after hearing it, but I reassured them that there was no reason to fear the ocean or sharks. I mean, I'm living proof that sharks don't just randomly attack people. But that didn't seem to ease their fear any better, so we all just agreed to go back inside and play video games. All the while I was faking my bravery for them, because in truth I was terrified of my experience. I had to keep saying to myself _It's over. It's over. I'm safe. I'm safe._ Life can only progress forward.

* * *

Sorry for the wait, but do you guys _see_ how long this chapter is?! Plus, I had a lot of stuff to do before the year ended (school's still going on in my city but I get out for a week because I got exempt from all my end of the year exams) and now I have an entire three months of relaxation. Though, I'm really gonna miss almost all of my teachers 'cause some of them are leaving or retiring or something. Not that I blame them, I mean, my school is awful. But it still saddens me that all of the good teachers are leaving and making school even less enjoyable. Oh well, life goes on.

Now about the shark: personally, if I was ever in the ocean alone with a shark circling me, I'd die of a heart attack. Immediately. I could never be that brave.

Next chapter will come much sooner, I promise, so until then, later!


	25. The Couple

(Scroll to skip) Da... dadudadududa- dadudududadadeedudadeedadudeedudadeeda-dadudadeedudadeedeedadeeladada- dadudaleedudadeedudadeeda-dudadeedudadee-dudadeeladudeeladudadudadaleedudaleeda- dudududeeda-dudadadee (gasps for air) dudadeedududadeedudadedudadeedudadeeDAAAAAAHHH.

It's come to that chapter. It's make or break for Kaiba and Elektra. So will he choose the girl from his childhood or wait for the girl from his ancient past? Sorry, this isn't a puppyshipping or serenityxseto (is there a shipping for that? Because I'm not a fan of it so I don't know) story so the other two aren't options right now.

And don't forget that five chapters from now I'll end part one and take a break to work on the next few chapters plus Strike Down: Dementia and the Death Note fic I have in mind. Though the Death Note fic will be edited poorly since my editor has not seen the ending and having her read mine would out-right ruin it. And since Summer is hereand I didn't have to take the 2nd semester exams (since I'm exempt from everything) I have a lot of time in my hands.

Also it's becomming extremely complicated to upload chapters now and my editor isn't gonna edit the next few chapters because she's caught up in other things.

This is just a reminder that I own nothing except my OCs and a chocolate bar. Whoops, well... the chocolate bar just got eaten so it's only mine for a few more hours. Everyting else is not mine in anyway at all. So I would deeply appreciate it if you would not sue me. Quite frankly, if I'm on FanFiction what would give you the idea that I own this? Sorry for rambling, if you haven't skipped this speech and read the story, then you are a trooper. Now you can go through your day proudly with the satisfaction that you stuck through and read all of one chapter. I worked hard on this chapter, and I hope you like it! Please review if you do!

* * *

Strike Down

Twenty-five: The Couple

* * *

"The shark ate my pants."

The sun was setting low onto the sea's horizon and the seagulls glided across the sky to their nests for the night. I was still up, sitting on the sandy beach with my toes sinking into the shifty sediment. Still, I couldn't sway the unease that's festered inside of me ever since I saw that shark this morning. I mean, come on brain! You see a shark ten hours ago and _now_ you're worried when you're on land? Jeez...

The wind blew a salty gust which blew my hair and large, white, flowing long shirt back behind me. I breathed in the tangy sea air as the sound of feet stepping through sand came closer to me. I opened my eyes right as the wind and walking stopped. Seto sighed as he sat down beside me wearing a thin white button-up and dark tan pants and sandals. He fixed his slightly disorganized hair from the breeze by running his long fingers through his bangs.

"So...," he said, "I guess that you don't wanna watch Jaws tonight?"

I grinned a half smile. "I'm not afraid of sharks, Seto."

"Not even after today?"

I shook my head. "It didn't hurt me. I just happened to be there and it happened to swim around me. They're sharks, not monsters."

Seto turned his gaze to the sunset and said, "Wanna know something that'll make you feel better?"

"Hm?"

"This one time, I was at this aquarium with Mokuba after we got adopted and he ran away because he wanted to go pet stingrays in the tank. Well, you can't because they're in the tank so he went around to the place where they feed them. And of course I had to go and find him and when I did he was balancing in the middle of the two shark tanks on this metal beam. He was over there crying and scared of falling in and getting eaten by the sharks and of course I wasn't going to let my little brother die so I walked over to him and started guiding him back. Well about that time, one of the workers walked in and startled me and I fell in the shark tank. Before I could come back up for a breath, this huge eleven-foot tiger shark swam up and bit my leg. So I was thrashing around and freaking out because there was a freaking shark eating me and then some of the workers finally reached down and yanked me up. All I could remember feeling was something detatching from my body and I was worried that the damn shark bit my leg off. Well, when I looked down I saw that I was fine; no bites, marks, blood, anything. But then I realized that I wasn't wearing pants."

I turned my head in his direction.

"The shark ate my pants," he said somehow maintaining a straight face.

My face grew hot and was grimacing a look of me trying to not to laugh. Finally, after a few rapid spits of air, I burst out into laughter. Seriously, try to picture him staring down at his dorky spotted underpants (you just know he was wearing those. You just know) after he almost got eaten alive by a tiger shark.

"Were... Were you all like WTF?" I chuckled breathlessly.

He shook his head. "First I was scared outta my mind, but then I was really embarrassed because I had to walk outta that place in my boxers since they couldn't get my pants back."

I howled in laughter again. "I feel for you man. But, you gotta imagine the people watching from lower floor and just for them to see it eating your pants and them just thinking that it ate some unlucky kid."

He smiled. "Well it almost did. Speaking of which, why weren't you afraid of that shark you saw this morning? And, well, what happened?"

I shook my head.

Seto reached over and grabbed my hand gingerly.

"Tell me."

* * *

(_Switchin' perspectives, Switchin' perspectives_)

Elektra sighed as the wind picked up and blew her bangs away from her smooth, tan face, gently cascading over her lightly pink cheeks. Her lapis lazuli blue eyes glistened the reflection of the burning orange sunset as her attention was aimed at the slowly overlapping waves of the sea.

_Shut up testastorone!_ he scolded himself as a certain thought passed through his mind.

"I was alone, swimming," Elektra finally spoke, "I saw this shark. A big shark, a twenty-three foot great white to be exact, and it swam right up to my face, went around me, went under me, circled me, and swam away."

Seto couldn't believe this girl. She seemed perfectly unphased with this usually tramatic experience. How can someone just face a giant shark and walk away like nothing happened?

"How do you do it?" Seto finally asked.

Elektra spun her head in his direction. "Do what?"

"Ignore every bad thing to ever happen to you."

"Why can't you?" Elektra questioned.

"Because the thought of someone or something hurting you sickens me beyond any comprehendable measure," he answered honestly.

"Why?"

"I... honestly don't know," he answered as he mentally punched himself in the gut for some reason. But he honestly didn't know why he cared so much for Elektra. It was like there was some primal instinct inside of him that compelled him to forever keep this girl safe.

"Do you _really_ want to know how I can move on so easily?" she asked.

Seto nodded.

"I just remember that I'm alive," she answered. "I'm alive now and that's all that matters. What is there to gain from a life of dwelling on things that have already happened?"

"Not much." He grinned and dug his fingers into the cool smooth sand.

Elektra leaned down into the sand and lay flat with her curvey, slender body parallel to the earth and sky. She seemed to not belong to this world; like she was supposed to be this immortal entity whom sovreigned great power. That's what Seto felt like she deserved after all. But no. Here she was, this unique, almost mystic, young woman existing here beside him, as tangible and visible as mortal life.

Seto lay down beside her. Elektra glanced at him for a brief second before returning her gaze to the darkening sky. Her fascination for the calm and seemingly dull aspects of live and her craving for the darkness and misunderstood captivated Seto in a way alien to him. Her unbreakable spirit and kindness, her open heart, her above average intellignece and the wisdom she has equal to that of someone who has lived their life twice, her unequaled bravery, and her gentle, subtle beauty made it easy for Seto to feel an unusual infactuation with Elektra. Her purity would be a sin for someone to spoil, to stand in her presence was enough to die happy with, at least in Seto's mind.

"Hey Elektra," Seto said.

"Hm?"

"You know how we're like really good friends now?"

"Well, yeah?"

"Well," he continued, "would you consider to not be no longer called just by my friend and my not-_meinen Freundin_ because I don't not want you to be?"

She rolled over on her side with one hand to prop up her cranium and the other very close to Seto's hair. "Okay, repeat what you just said, cut out the German, and don't use multilple negatives."

He groaned loudly. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Aww, you actually do have a heart," she teased.

"Just answer the damn question," he grunted, blushing vibrantly.

She leaned forward, brushed his brown hair away from his face, and kissed him. Not on the cheek, not on the forehead, but smack-dab on his lips. She pulled away and pulled some stray hairs behind her ear.

"Nope."

"What?!"

She giggled. "I'm just screwin' with you. Of course I'll be your girlfriend."

"_Meinen Freundin,_" Seto said.

"_Meinen Freund,_" Elektra replied.

They kissed again, only this time Elektra rested her upper body on his and it lasted much MUCH longer.

* * *

(_Switchin' again, Switchin' again_)

I was in a happy mood for the rest of the day. Seto Kaiba was my boyfriend. Seto Kaiba was my _boyfriend_. I am living many women's dreams right now. Ha-ha, be jealous! Everytime I started to think about it or _us_ or whatever the hell was happening, my heart would flutter around in my chest and my cheeks will burn pink in color. Finally, at least something in my life was going right!

The T.V. screen was colorful with the passing images from the movie _Spirited Away_ and the four of us were sitting across from it on a cushioned rattan sofa. I was resting comfortably on Seto's left shoulder, happy that finally that he accepted such an action with no question. I was content that we were finally together like this. Maybe now I could start to rebuild my life. A new life. With him. And Blaze. And Mokuba. I looked up at my boyfriend and nuzzled my face into his shirt sleeve, barely awake but straining my eyes open for the sake of watching my favorite movie.

In the movie, Chihiro stared down at a long, flimsy stairway that lead down to the boiler room. I began to lightly laugh which peaked Seto's intrest.

"What's so funny?"

"Shhh!" I answered. "Just watch."

Chihiro was inching her way down the steps until one frail plank broke apart thus sending her speeding down the stairs screaming. Seconds passed until the reached a stone platform on which she plowed into a solid wall face first.

"That would so be me!" I laughed.

"Nah. That seems more like a Raileth thing," Blaze commented. She turned to look at us and shivered. "Ugh. I always knew that you two would end up together, but it still weirds me out."

"How do you think I felt when you started dating my brother?" Seto retorted.

Mokuba shrugged. "I'm just glad to finally see you smiling."

Blaze shook her head. "I'm not. The internet says that everytime he smiles a puppy dies."

Seto turned to me, still smiling, and replied, "Well, your sister's gonna make me kill a lot of puppies." Then he leaned in a his lips made contact with mine.

My little sister cringed. "Ew! Now you're gonna contract his meaness!"

"Or the begining of a zombie plague," Mokuba commented.

I (relunctantly) pulled away from him and said, "We're not even opening our mouths."

"You want to?" he offered. He was joking...I think.

Blaze sighed and said, "Well now, no matter what, our lives our intertwined." I don't think Seto caught on to what she was saying, but I could tell by the bold tone of her voice that severity underlined her words. Even in my happiness, my shadow looms over me. "Elektra, just keep in mind that our sins are like boomerangs that never seem to stay away from us."

I knew the risks of having a relationship. Especially one with Seto. And I was well aware that all of my baggage from my past will one day resurface. Silent I remained, reevaluating my choice.

"I don't care about anything that happened before we met," Seto spoke wisely. "If I wanted to dwell on the past-" He wrapped his left arm around me and interlaced his fingers with mine. "-then I wouldn't be planning my future."

I looked back over at my sister. She was unphased. Seto's words meant nothing to her. She wanted _my_ approval on the situation. For over a decade she's been looking to me for leadership. My word was always final. My orders were played out without quesion. Not out of fear, but out of respect. Now it was my say on the attatchments we've made and wether or not should we leave them and flee to somewhere they will not be in danger. But I knew that both Blaze and I had fallen for the Kaiba brothers, as stupid and girly as that sounds, and that in this family our love, pain, and secrets were shared. We were safe, finally. We were safe here. With them. With each other. So I nodded in reply.

Blaze smiled. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

"You better believe I'm happy."

* * *

No, when it said "much MUCH longer", I was not implying sex. Just making that clear. So after this there will be a new Interlude for two blondes imparticular and then I'll finish Part 1 off with something epic :3 then I'll finish SD: Dementia. For those of you who haven't read it yet, it tells you about why Klaus turned out the way he did and there is a ton of hidden refrences and clues in there to the corrolation with his murders and Duel Monsters. But I must warn that it is really enraging and morbid for those of you who are fans of certain characters, and there are certain themes in there that are really touchy subjects but in no way, in no way at all, do I agree with what is happening in that story. I'm just writing it, so whatever happens, happens. It's life, and life goes on. But if it really offends you, I will make you a bridge so you can get over it. It's a fictional stroy and I do not agree with what is happening; it's just there.

Anyways, if you guys have any requests I am open to listen to them but please read my rules first. I have morals guys. And (I am being really serious here) please do not be offened where one of my rules is "No Yaoi". I am not homophobic, and I do not mind puppyshipping or other yaoi stories so long as they are written with class with some restraint on the vividness of the sex scenes. I can hardly read straight scenes without shaking my head and exiting out of the internet and take a few hours trying to come to terms with what I just read. Like, I don't like it when they put two characters together in the gayest situation (gay as in an actual homosexual situation, not gay as in stupid because that's unfair and mean) possible just to be creepy. For example (skip this example, it will ruin everything for you) I don't wanna read a story to where two certain male characters are in Willy Wanka's chocolate factory and they fall in the chocolate river and they have to lick the chocolate off of each other. I can't believe that I just wrote that. Y'know, there's probably something like that out there, and I will hate it. But if it's written well and they actually put affection and true devotion and love in there then I really don't mind. Me, personally, I just can't write a gay story. I don't mean to be mean, but I just can't. Especially something on the lines of the example I just gave. Forgive me for writing that by the way.

So they ended up together. Only took twenty-five chapters, but compared to what I have planned this ain't nothin'. The reason I paired Seto and Elektra together was because I'm a fan of blueshipping and I've been thinking that with all of the reincarnations that maybe Kisara got reincarnated, and since Yugi, Ishizu, Solomon, and a few other people don't have the same name as their incarnates that I could get away with Elektra's name. But Elektra is not Kisara. Confused yet? All will make sense in the end so just bare with me.

Thank you for reading :3 reviews, follows, favs, pretty much any form of support means the world to me. People are awesome, but my readers are just a little more awesome than most people :D And my editor Abby and my role-model veteran idol authors. Stay awesome guys! Later!


	26. The Casters: Brooklyn Meets Berlin

So we're taking another break from the Kaiba family all together. If you are lazy and have not read the chapter title already, then you have no idea that this chapter is mainly about Twyla and Terrance. Until now. Not only that, but it's mainly about molding a relationship for two certain people.

This Interlude will have a first person view from Twyla, and whenever the POV switches, it'll be omniscent like in the original story. Also, like I've said before, I have a Deviant Art account so if you get bored with this story you can go check that out and once my editor gets done reading Death Note and sees the ending I'll have that fic up. I'm working on the name and I think I got it down to three. Whatever, I'll decide on one.

If you haven't skipped below and read the chapter already, you should probably do that now.

(PS: The writing to this is whack because it's Twyla's POV)

* * *

Strike Down

The Casters: Brooklyn meets Berlin

* * *

Yep. Good Times.

My dreams are freaking awesome. It's like biting into a cracker and then all of the sudden the cracker becomes like eighty-six pounds of chocolate but you don't feel guilty for eating it because it has the same nutrition value as a cracker. Except awesomer. I had this dream that I was in a void of darkness playing with voodoo dolls with really cuddly outfits and when I squeezed one really hard it became a fairy. Not like a stupid Tinker Bell fairy but like a fairy of death. ^3^ Kawaii 3 !

But my brother doesn't like me having to experience my dreams to the fullest. It's not like I'm having the horse dream that Blaze had a few years ago. To this day I cannot look at a horse the same way I used to. But that doesn't stop him from waking me up waaayyy too early.

"Lemme sleep Terry!" I moaned.

Terrance kept shaking my shoulder. "C'mon Twyla. Serenity called and said that she and Tea are gonna meet you here in an hour."

"Tell them that I'm dead." I called. I wasn't trying to sound mean if taken that way. I mean, Tea and Serenity are my friends and I could never hurt them but I want to sleep!

Terrance sighed and yanked my covers off of me. I curled up in a ball but the warmth was already vacant thanks to my skimpy night clothes, which was basically just a T-shirt and my underwear. I lunged at my brother's grey-brown hair as an attempt to yank every last stupid strand out. Alas Terrance avoided me and twisted my arms in defense.

"Calm down Twyla," he said in a smooth tone. "You can't just sleep here forever."

"Sleeping Beauty did for like a hundred years," I whined.

"Yes, and in the original fairy tale her Prince Charming raped her before she woke up."

My emerald eyes widened as I sprang outta bed. Leave it to my big bro to find some mind scaring way to wake me up everyday. Sometimes I blame him for my problems... because he causes them. Thanks bro -_-

Anyways, I shooed him outta my room and dresses myself in a white ruffled shirt and brown pants. Not exactly fit to meet the Queen in but it'll do :P

So Serenity and Tea wanted to take me to a small dueling tournament at this game shop a friend of theirs owns. I think his name was Duke Dumplin or something. Apparently Tea's boyfriend Yugi and Serenity's brother Joey are competing and they wanted me, Terrance, and Raileth to come and cheer them on. Terrance has to work and poor Ray Ray has an anxiety disorder which makes her uncomfortable in social situations.

And Ella and Bells are somewhere in the Oceania with their boyfriends. I know, Elektra and Seto aren't technically together but they are DESTINED to be together! I can just feel it! I ship them _sooooo_ much! And plus, if they never get together God-so-help-me I will cast a love spell on them which'll make them fall madly in love and have so many babies that rabbits will look like virgins. It's pretty obvious, but it should be said that I have a PHD ... in bein' a_ love _doctor!

I unplugged my phone right as I got a text.

Serenity: Hey we're here.

Holy shit they're early. Do they not know how long it takes me to get may hair ultra kawaii?!

Me: HOLDS ON I HAS HAIR BAD UGLIEST-EST!

Serenity: Hey this is Tea. I stole Serenity's phone. Now get your toe-head butt in my car!

Me: STURBEN!

I knew they can't speak German. I just said that to confuse them. I needs time to fixes my cotton-candy hair so I doos not looks like Effie Trinkett! Why?! WHY aren't the odds ever in my favor?!

I speeded to my dresser and began to assess my face. I focused on my hair and muttered _Remba_. Magically, my eyes shone florescent green and an emerald light cloaked my hair briefly before revealing my now perfectly straight hair. Then I had to focus on my odor. I still had the morning stench of drool and blank nothingness. Then I muttered _Scena_ and a pink dust drizzled on my like sleeting rain then vanished. Perfect... for now. Tee-hee, gotta love being a Wiccan with magic powers!

I threw my door open and ran down the hallway. Raileth's bedroom is right next to mine and Terrance's is across the hall from us. It's a one story building so that means no stairs or nothing. Which I guess is good, 'cuz I'd probably fall and crack my skull open like an Easter egg. Imagine how nutty I'd be after that 0_0

I had my hand on the door when I heard Raileth call out from the kitchen, "Wait! Don't you wanna eat?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thank you!"

Terrance rolled his head around the corner and yelled back, "Twyla, it's unhealthy to skip breakfeast! You'll be bitchy for the rest of the day."

"I'm bitchy no matter what!" I retorted. "Just gimme some Go-Go Juice and I'll be guten."

"Gluten?"

"No _guten_! We're from Germany; you should know this you German douchebag!"

He laughed then added, "I'm joking. Hold on and I'll get your orange juice."

"Go-Go Juice!"

"Stop being Honey Boo Boo," he called from the kitchen. He returned and tossed me a can of orange juice. Yes we get our orange juice in cans. Don't judge, we're just awesome that way ^3^ Then I threw open the door very dramatically to match my regular morning optimism. Seeing me unhappy is very rare and if you ever see it, you should take a picture. It'll last longer.

Tea had this ugly grey car. Like the kinda grey that describes the level of intelligence it takes to make one episode of Spongebob. Yeah, it's that dull. And plus Elektra warned me that Tea is about as good as driving as Kaiba is fond of magic. God help me. I opened the door and buckled myself in the seat besides the brunette wearing a leather jacket, gold top, and black skirt. Serenity sat in the back wearing a pink denim jacket, blue tank top, and blue jeans. Why she sat in the back, I guess it's because she feels safer back there when Tea's driving.

"What's up funzai ippai?" I beamed cheerfully.

"...What?" Tea questioned.

I shrugged and giggled. "It's a line from a song I listen to. Though I have no idea what it means since it's almost entirely Japanese."

She laughed and put the car into gear as she gassed the hunk of junk, practically flooring the pedal in accelaration. Now I knew what Elektra meant. Tea is gonna end up destroying the world in her stupid grey Camry. Or at least kill me and Serenity.

"Jesus Tea!" I proclaimed. She was steering with her wrists instead of her actual hands LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN.

"Sorry! My nails aren't dry and I don't wanna ruin them."

"My pants aren't dry either and it's because of your driving!" I retorted.

Tea rolled her eyes and turned on her radio which was playing her Katy Perry CD. Hell fucking no. I may wear a lot of pink and may not how use perfect grammar, but this girly don't like Pop-y. That's one thing Ella, Terry, Bells and I agree on. Ray-Ray likes this crap for some reason. But she isn't here right now and I want _my_ music!

"Do you mind if I listen to the radio?" I asked.

"You don't like Katy Perry?" Serenity called from the back seat.

I turned to her and replied, "I don't know. I never met her." I turned back around in my seat. "It's that music that I hate."

"Well what _do_ you like?" Tea asked, as perky as ever.

I gave a prankster smirk ^w^ and began scanning through the radio looking for _my _radio station. And then I heard something so melodiously awesome I couldn't ignore it. Who ever can, has absolutely NO taste in music . Even if they don't like my fav genre they should still love dis!

_"Met a girl at seventeen_

_Thought she meant the world to me_

_So I gave her everything_

_She turned out to be a cheat-"_

Sleeping With Sirens. The most-est awesomest-est best band evurrrrr :) I love them _so_ freaking much that almost everything I own is SWS related in some way. Terrance thinks it's just some phase I'll grow out of once I get a boyfriend (psh like that'll ever happen) and Elektra thinks that I'm crazy obsessed and will end up kidnapping Kellin Quinn. I'm not kidnapping anyone except for Mokuba in order to get Kaiba to pay for my new car that I want. But I still love SWS.

"Who's-?" Tea started to ask before I _shh!_ed her. This is m'song and ain't nobody gonna be interuptin' m'song.

"It's Sleeping With Sirens," I answered briefly, "Nobody better talk while I'm listening to this!"

Serenity squeaked out, "But-"

I spun back around and glared at her. "_Nobody_ is gonna talk during this song."

The music went on and they actually began to like it. Even after I told them the lead singer was actually a guy, which for whatever reason always suprises people. Justin Beiber dresses like a man and no one has a problem with that. Eventually the song ended (why?!) and the sweet music was replaced by some radio commercial having to do with strippers being zapped by lightning.

"That... was actually good," Tea said. "So you must be into like Rock and Emo stuff like Elektra and Blaze."

I shrugged. "A little. I'm into stuff heavier than Ella preffers and calmer stuff than Blaze preffers. It's really kinda bipolar."

"Bipolar? What do you mean by that?" Serenity questioned.

I turned back to her. "Like I can listen to Wonderwall by Oasis and then Blood Pigs by Otep in the same session."

Serenity cocked her head to the side. "I've never heard of either of those."

Tea slammed on the breaks and for whatever reason, my seatbelt was super tight to begin with, so I ended up almost getting stangled to death by a safety device. Plus you could hear the tires screech to a stop; a sound equivilent to hearing a new assistant teacher raking her glue-on nails against a chalk board. We were in the middle of the road, too. Where the hell are the cops in this town?

The brunette ripped her head around and proclaimed, "Wonderwall is _beautiful_!" I was backed up into a corner, shocked by her unusual feroscity. But her mood swing quickly vanished as she added, "In fact, I think I have the CD to that up on the console. Hey Twyla, couldja give me that black case."

I nodded. "Yeah, as soon as you keep moving. I just saw a guy get outta his car and he kinda looks like he wants to kill us and he kinda also looks like Bane from Batman."

she put the car back in gear as I tred to reach for the CD case. Again, for some reason, the belt was tight so it was difficult to reach for it. While I was squirming to grab the case, Serenity popped in.

"It's really hot in here."

"Sorry, the air conditioner is broken. I'll just roll down Twyla's window."

D'you hate it when wind blows hair in your mouth? Thanks Tea -_- I still couldn't reach the case with my damn seatbelt being tighter than a stripper's thong. So, I did what the stripper would do; I took it off. So the window was down, my seatbelt was off, and I was sitting on my knees because Tea had so much crap on the floor that I had almost no leg room. I literally saw an Easy Bake Oven in there next to a tool box. What does this chick do that involves travel, cooking, and a tool box? Anyways, the next thing I know, Tea takes a hard left and I guess I lost balance or something and ended up rolling out through the window and onto the street.

* * *

(POV Switch)

His hair was shaggier than usual and he was even less attentive today than he would normally be. Ever since he moved out of his drunken father's apartment, he had been stressed beyond average. He thought that with his old man out of his life, he would be more at peace and relieved without the constant yelling and glass breaking, but instead he can barely make it by. His plans after graduating soon this year is vague and blurry. Maybe join the army with Tristan? Work at Kame Game with Yugi? Apparently Gramps is retiring so Yug's gonna take over. Good for them. Kaiba, of course, has nothing but the best ahead of him. He couldn't help but feel green jealousy for Kaiba. He's had everything pratically handed to him in life. Not to mention that he also has Elektra. He's only ever admitted this to Yugi, but he kinda _liked_ Elektra. She was a good, sweet, strong person and deserved so much better than... well now that he thought about it, being with him wouldn't be that much better than being with Kaiba. Maybe this whole infatuation had to do with Mai rejecting him. Ever since she broke his heart, he's been feeling even more empty.

It seemed everyone was paired together: Yugi and Tea, Kaiba and Elektra, Tristan and Serenity (as much as he despises it), Mokuba and Blaze, and even Mai and Valon who married not too long ago. So who was left for him? Rebecca was way too young, Ishizu is too old, Vivian was... Vivian, Mana and Kisara are ancient history (literally), he wasn't gay, and he was almost dirt poor. What woman in her right mind would like a blonde guy from Brooklyn who's falling in the footsteps of his father, a drunk gambler?

Not that he let his personal despair get in the way of good days like this. Today he gets to blow off steam dueling with his buds like old times. Except now Yugi isn't possessed by a dead pharoh and metrosexual villains aren't trying to steal their souls. Yep. Good times. Anyways, he would be dueling against Yugi and Duke for a grand prize of $500. It's not much compared to other winnings, such as the cash prize at Duelist Kingdom which saved Serenity's eyesight. But it'll still help pay rent for his new apartment.

He turned towards the road after hearing constant honking and skidding tires. His curiosity of course was directed towards the disturbance. Which is normal. I mean, he's human; not some skittis fish who scurries away everytime you tap on the glass. Before him he saw a vehicle swerving across the road like a snake through sand. The only person who drives that badly in a silver Camry... correction, the only person who drives a silver Camry that badly would be none other than Tea Gardner. Either her or some drunk person texting while on LSD. Or a dead guy. Suddenly, the car took a hard left and a small blonde girl was thrown out the window onto the busy road. _Huh,_ he joked to himself, _So dat's where girls come from._ The young man remembered this girl from school. Her name was Twyla Caster. She was friends with Elektra and Blaze and she was that Terrance guy's younger sister. They've never really talked much except that one time on Elektra's birthday when she started to flirt with him.

"_Verdammt du Tea_!" the blonde girl screamed in some strange language.

"Hey!" he called out to her, "Hey! Are you okay?"

She turned to him and waved. "Oh hey Joey! What's up funzai ippai?"

_Really? D'ya maybe wanna continue this conversation when ya outta da road?_ He thought. Pft, and Kaiba accuses _him_ for being stupid. "Hey Twyla, get outta the damn road!"

She seemed like she was rolling her eyes, like it was such an inconvinience for her to not sit and die, and began to trudge towards him. Joey impatiently waited for her to cross the lanes. The first lane was empty, but as she reached the second lane of traffic, someone in an orange Mercury was texting and didn't notice Twyla crossing the road, and Twyla didn't notice them.

_Gah, for the love of-_ Joey rushed out into the busy street and abruptly ripped Twyla away from the car just in time. But he pulled Twyla too hard and she ended up making him trip over the concrete fault dividing the sidewalk from the pavement. Joey fell flat on his back but his head was cushioned by something a tad bit softer and somewhat squishy. Twyla fell on top of him with her face firmly planted on his chest out of terror. Moments passed. Still, wordless moments. Joey lay facing the shining grey sky, breathless and dazed. He felt the small girl laying over him, deathly still, but alive.

He rached to the back of his head to remove his mystery cushion that protected his head from hitting solid concrete. The cushion turned out to be Twyla's hands which she had used to protect him. He rose and saw a small crowd surrounding them. Immediately he felt a tinge of modesty in the prescence of so many strangers. Especially when he's without his friends to offer some sort of reason to the situation. Meanwhile the young girl remained latched onto him like velcrow.

Silence was ringing like a constant irritation. Something had to be said. Not to the crowd, but to "address" the problem directly. "Hey... are you okay?"

Twyla didn't look up from her sitting position, but she nodded numbly then added, "Uh-huh."

The crowd dissolved and Joey gently pulled the blonde girl off of him. Standing, she had her head down either from awkwardness or embarassment. Joey felt like he had to say something. He doesn't like it when people are feeling down.

"Um... what were ya doin' to get yaself stuck in the road?"

She looked up. She had the most beautiful emerald green eyes he had ever seen. Not that it was relavent to the situation but still. "Tea's whack driving."

"And how'd you fall out?"

She smiled. "The seatbelt was choking me like a noose so I took it off to get her CD case."

"So you almost died tryna listen to music?"

Her smile straightened and she forcefully grabbed him by the shoulders. "It was _Wonderwall_."

"By Oasis?"

Twyla nodded.

Okay. It made sense now. It's rare to find a nice girl these days who're into good music. Twyla seemed nice. She had nice hair, nice smile, nice eyes, nice... What was he thinking? He barely knows the girl! Still... she was fair game.

He pulled out his phone. "Ya want me to call Tea for ya?"

She shook her head violently. "Please God no. Imma die someday but it's not gonna be today."

Joey laughed. "Where was ya goin' anyways?"

"To the duel tournament at Duke Dumplin's game shop."

"You mean Duke Devlin?"

"Eh, tomato_ tomato_."

Joey laughed comically in response. _She ain't dat much of a ditzy blonde now is she?_ Maybe everyone did have a pair. "You wanna walk with me then?"

Twyla smiled brillantly, her magnificent eyes still glittering with amusement. "How could I say no?"

The two blondes grinned, happy to be in the other's company. Even though there was an entire city around them, surrounding their beings with echoes of chaos and blinding light refracting from all the glass and the countless other bodies around them, they were the only two things walking down the street. They were the only two things in the world. At least for the moment.

* * *

Don't hate me, dear readers. I apalogize for not pairing Mai and Joey together, but I wanted to try something different. Keep an open mind guys, the mind is a permeable sponge, not a brick wall.

Also, there is a lot of pop culture and other refrencing in here but PLEASE don't sue me. I disclaim everything other people own that I have mentioned in this story. I do not profit from this, and even if I did I'd probably send it back to the idiot who gave me the money and tell them, "YOU DUMBASS! YOU CAN'T PAY ME FOR SOMETHING I DON'T OWN! THAT'S ONLY OKAY IN DRUG DEALS!" And by okay I mean illegal, but correct in the terms of most of America who brake the law anyways because Obama is too preoccupied with other countries' problems. And school lunches, which no one eats because it tastes like Play Dough and the opaque dullness of an empty void known as nothing. Literally. There is no salt anymore. Who eats french fries with no salt or seasoning other than ketchup?

Sorry for that rambling. The NRS is now on my list of immediate fears now. Though of course an adolescent teenager is much more of a threat than the thousands of morbidly obese people in this country, the millions of drug and alcohol abusers, bullying, child abuse, illegal immigration, the trillions of dollars of debt we're in, rapists, the fact that Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman aren't in prison, the complete neglect for the care of other humans in favor of our own selves or possesions... ext. I'm not that worried about it though. Like I said, I'm just a teen. I just wanted to exploit our goverment to what it has come to. And yes, there are countries doing worse than us, but not by much. Trust me, if you lived where I live, in my exact location, you'd see what I'm talking about.

Again, sorry for that ramble. It's irrelevant and controvertial, but it's written nevertheless. There will be death in the next chapter and for the next few chapters. The next Part will be where the suspense really kicks in ;3

See you next time in Chapter 27, Bullet for Mai Valentine!

Later!


	27. The Casters: Bullet For Mai Valentine

Sadly, I have ultimately decided to cease my work on Dementia. Instead, I will use my break to focus on Deviant Art and my Death Note fic. The Death Note fic isn't gonna be as long as Strike Down (at all), but it's gonna be much more dramatic and controversial. Yipee for me suing brings the attorney -_-

In this chapter, there will finally be some death. Not almost death but actual death. Oh, btw, this story is gonna have character death. Most of you will get really pissed and/or really sad depending if you like this or not. Also, Since I have a D.A. account now, if you want me to draw a scene from my stary or a certain character I'll happily do it just review/ PM if you do.

And so... Twyla and Joey. Like that pairing? Originally, it was going to be Raileth but I'm saving her for someone else. Someone in relation to Kaiba. take a guess. Anyways, Twyla is based off of the DMG (not Mana, DMG) and she's mostly used for Vaseshipping but I was just thinking outside the box on this one. (SetaxElektra is Suedo-Blueshipping so I guess TwylaxJoey is Blondeshipping) Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Strike Down

The Casters: Bullet For Mai Valentine

* * *

And he collapsed, dead.

"Man, I thot dat I'd win for sure," Joey groaned.

I turned my head in his direction. "You went up against the King of Games. What did you expect?"

His eyes went wide as he shook his fist at me, not that I felt threatened. "You sayin' dat I'm weak?!"

I took a sip from my strawberry and peanut butter milkshake then replied, "No. I'm saying it's like pinning the two deadliest spiders against each other with one spider being a juvenile and the other being more experienced." I locked a stare in his direction. "You're very strong. You just need more experience."

He calmed down. Then he smiled and admitted, "You're right. Whatta 'm I supposed to gain if I win all the times anyways?"

"Five hundred dollars apparently," Tristan joked. In a fit of rage, Joey lunged at Tristan and began to strangle him violently.

I couldn't help but laugh :) I... actually had fun today. When it comes to Duel Monsters, I really haven't the slightest idea of what's going on. But I didn't need to know. I could just tell by the determination and passion they exploit while dueling that they really care for this game. Even though it's technically just a card game.

Anyways, it turns out that some chick with GIGANTIC boobs showed up with her husband, Valon. Her name was Mai Valentine, A. K. A. Joey's old infatuation. Judging by her knockers I could see why. I mean... she had a lovely personality. Yeah, that's what I meant to say. So with their addition, a total of over two hundred people showed up for Duke's tournament which included Duke himself, Yugi, Joey, some weird guy with blue clothes preaching about the ocean, a weird geek with big buggy glasses and aqua beetle hair who acted like he was hiding his meth from everybody, some homeless kid obsessed with dinosaurs who I guess was his secret life mate, Mai and Valon, and some foreign kid literally screaming everything he knew in a language no one understood throwing M&amp;M's at random people. I'd always call him a "Bootshie" which for whatever reason made him really angry and throw more M&amp;M's at me. Which I have since collected, and currently devouring. Nom Nom Nom Nom! So, Yugi ended up winning (pfft. Big surprise there) and Joey came in second and won $100 dollars for it. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Now we, me, Tea, Tristan, Joey, Serenity, Duke, Yugi, Mai, and Valon, were all eating at an ice cream shop celebrating the tournaments. Though I was mostly occupied with my bounty of M&amp;Ms that foreign dude so kindly bestowed opon me. He also threw the candy at Yugi, Tea, Valon, and Joey. Tea didn't want to eat hers because it was "_unsanitary_", but who cares? So long as I didn't have to go in a Chester the Molester van to get it I'm okay. She ended up just splitting it between the four of us. More for me!

"Hun, you really have no idea where that kid was keeping that stuff," Mai nagged from across our conjoined table.

I shrugged. "It would take a massive amount of effort to kill me," I answered truthfully. "I think the M&amp;M's are guten."

"He might have poisoned them," Serenity said.

Valon swallowed a handful then replied in his accent, "They taste fine."

I turned over to Duke, who kinda looked like some hipster/ drummer guy stuck in the 80s, and asked, "Who was that guy anyways?"

He thought for a moment before answering. "I think his name was Offdie Londekerr?"

"_Auf de Lande, Auf de Mer_," I thought I was thinking but was actually singing outloud.

"What?" My blonde crush asked.

"Oh, it was nothing. His name just reminded me of a song I knew."

They returned in idle conversation while my mind drifted away. These people were actually nice. I can see why Elektra and Blaze like them so much. I'm sure Terrence and Raileth could benefit from their company. Maybe as some sort of therapy or something.

But then a familiar sense came over me. Everything turned violet in hue, and everyone around me was frozen in time. Well, everyone except for me and Mai. The other blonde woman started to take notice of the paralytic state and became nervous. Then she saw that I wasn't frozen like everyone else.

"Twyla? What's going on?"

My eyes very scanning around the entire restaurant looking for the danger while counting the seconds in my head. _-Two, Three, Four-_

"Twyla," Mai said again, only a little more harsh, "You with me sweetie?"

_-Seven, Eight-_

I couldn't see anyone else moving in here. Usually the threat is moving, tao, but this time everything inside the shop and outside was frozen. Except, of course, me and Mai.

-_Eleven, Twelve-_

Suddenly, through the silence, we heard a loud _click_ and we turned towards a building across the street. So the threat was that far away? That's unusual.

-_fifteen, sixteen-_

A loud noise, almost like lightning striking, burst in the silence and the window of the ice cream parlor shattered and the next thing I know, I see Mai's head tilting backwards. Her eyes were wide and frightened, as were mine. She then fell out of the chair, stane cold. Why is it whenever this happens, I have to see the person die before I help them?

-_nineteen._

The purple hue finally faded and everything went back to normal. Everyone was moving and talking, the window wasn't shattered, and Mai was still alive. Yet we remained staring at each other in complete terror. It didn't scare me as much because I've had this happen before. Poor Mai... That has to be really scary for her to see herself die.

Valon turned to his wife, confused by her demeanor. "Mai, are you okay Love?"

Mai was shaky in her reply, "I-I think I-I-I j-j-j-ust..."

By that time, everyone was silent. I started recounting in my head. "Guys," I stated sternly, "We need to leave. Now."

Everyone started getting antsy.

"What do you mean?" Serenity mumbled scarcely.

I stood up and abrasively and said, "I'm serious. This isn't a time to be fucking around with this."

Joey stood up and tried to console me. "Hey Twy, what's da mattah?"

I knew they wouldn't believe me. I turned to Mai, the only other witness besides the murderer. "You saw that, too. And you know it."

It seemed as though she snapped awake from a trance. "You mean... You saw me die too?"

I nodded, then everyone started getting extremely nervous and frightened. They need to stop panicking. Time is passing by fast and I need to get them outta here before they get killed! I've seen way too many people die to let innocent civilians die due to something to do with me. They don't deserve this!

"Shut up and calm down!" I demanded sternly. "We need to LEAVE!"

"Why?!" Tea demanded, furious and scared. "What's gonna happen?!"

I started grinding my teeth as the seconds started dropping into single digits. What ever happened to act first, questions later? I'm trying to save you guys _

"I had this vision that I got shot!" Mai proclaimed.

By now the whole restaurant was silently watching or video taping us. Dammit guys, hurry up!

"Got shot?" Yugi asked.

"Who the bloody hell would wanna shoot you?!" Valon barked.

"I don't know, ask Twyla!"

Oh my friggin' Ra. THANKS. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH MAI. THROW EVERYTHING ON ME, THAT'LL WORK THIS SHIT OUT -_- Well maybe now at least I can get them to freaking leave.

"I will happily explain everything once we LEAVE," I yelled.

Duke slammed his hand on the table. "I'm not moving an inch until I know what's happening!"

Seventeen. It's too late to leave now. I had once chance to save them. I just had to rely on that spell Terrence taught me. I looked out to all of them then pounded my fist on the table and cried, "_Simoa:_ DUCK!"

Nineteen.

Everyone of my new friends glew in florescent glittering purple and dropped to their knees against their will. Not a moment later, we heard a loud noise and the next thing I know the window's shattered and the guy sitting at the table to Mai's right was shot in the leg. Mai, luckily, was unharmed.

The spell wore off but no one was eager to emerge from their position. Meanwhile the ice cream shop was in a frenzy with people scattering around, paralyzed in fear, or shakily dialing 9-1-1. I remained standing, knowing that I have a lot to explain.

* * *

It was raining now, and I was sitting alone by the window trapped in my own thoughts. It was just me, Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Yugi now. We were sitting in Yugi's living room after the catastrophe earlier. I don't know about them, but I was exhausted. I had to cast a spell for the cops to not to take me in custody for conspiracy, cast a spell on everyone so everything new on their phone (or any cameras really) within the past hour was erased, and a spell on the patrons (aside from my friends) to forget the episode Mai and I had. Of course, afterwards I had to explain everything to everybody.

Basically what Mai and I experienced was a side-effect from my genetic engineering. Elektra's father, Klaus Redgaurd, was kind of a psychotic asshole and would create "breeds" of humans. The breed I was kin to specialized in magic and the occult. We never really ever found out how or why this only ever happens to me, but apparently whenever someone in correlation with Klaus is near, I can foresee them murder somebody a certain number of seconds before they actually commit the act. Thusly I was able to save Mai's life. Though I don't think the group is taking it that well. They probably all think I'm weird or crazy or possessed by Satan. Like every "friend" I've made outside of Germany.

"Hey Twyla..." Tea started after murmuring with the orders.

Oh. So the jury's reached their verdict. "Yeah?"

"We need to talk."

I sighed and subdued my childish instinct to start bawling like a three-year-old. I got up and started to make my way towards them. It sucked. This whole situation sucked. I just, for once, wanted to be a weird average person, not a weird screwed up person. I justed wanted to have friends aside from my brother, the child of a serial killer, a girl with servere anxiety issues, and Blaze. :( Let's see how this goes...

I stood before them, head down, arms behind my back, like I was a chid being reprimanded. "What is it?"

"We just wanted to let you know that your powers don't change the way we feel about you."

"I'm sorry I-" I had yet to realize what Tea said until now. "Wait what?"

I looked up and instead of seeing the scornful smiles of enraged enemies, I saw the welcoming smiles of four friends.

Tea giggled. "Twy, you saved our lives."

"Yeah," Joey agreed, "Besides, it's not da weirdest thing to happen to us."

"Right. I used to be possessed by the spirit of an Egyptian Pharaoh," Yugi added.

:D Yaaaaaayyyyy! So either I'm not bat-shit crazy or they're just as crazy as me. IDC, I win both ways :3

I lifted my head up, smiling now, and replied, "Thanks guys."

Right then, Tea's phone started playing "Overlap" by Kimeru meaning that someone was calling her. She excused herself to answer it. She pulled it away from her ear and said, "Hey Twy, it's your brother."

Oh great. He must be worried sick. You see, my phone went dead a few hours ago so I couldn't tell him that I was gonna be late.

I sighed then replied, "Oh Lord... Is it cool if I talk to him?"

"Sure." She handed me her pink Kuriboh-styled phone.

"Hello?"

"Twyla, what the hell is going on?" My brother's voice was stern and level.

I cringed slightly. "S-sorry. Something came up and my phone died."

Terrance took in a deep breath then exhaled. "Okay. What happened?"

"Someone kinda tried to snipe us while eating ice cream..."

"Snipe? Like shoot snipe?!"

"Yyyyeeeeaaaahhh..."

"Holy shit are you okay?!"

"Yeah-huh. We're all fine. But that 'thing' happened again."

"The premonition thing?"

"Yeah-huh."

"So that means... Did you hafta use your powers? Erase the evidence?"

"Yeah. I was careful. So this... this means that Klaus found us?"

My brother was silent for what seemed like forever.

"Look," he continued, "Just come home and rest. You need it. We can work out everything in the morning."

"Okay. Bye Bro."

"Be careful Sis."

I hung up. Everyone was watching me, waiting for something. I don't feel comfortable talking about it. Elektra is the one who needs to confront them about Klaus. Not me. It's not my place.

"I need to go home," I said finally.

"I don't really like driving at night..." Tea complained, "Could you, maybe, walk home?"

I shook my head. "I don't like being on the streets at night. Plus we live like twenty minutes away by car, remember?"

"Oh right."

"I'll drive ya," Joey offered.

Yes! ; ]

* * *

Now it was snowing instead of the sleeting rain I saw earlier. Joey and I were pretty quiet. I mean, after today you'd think we'd have a lot to talk about. Nope. Silence is bliss for right now.

"So... How long have ya had your powers?"

Dammit Joey. I wanted blissful silence. Oh well. "It's not really a _power_. I practice wicca, and that's available to all. I was just born with an enhanced talent for it."

He nodded. "Ain't wicca that freaky witch stuff?"

I shook my head. "There's a difference between wicca and witchcraft. Wicca is earthly and pure while witchcraft is demonic and evil. I don't sit in my room and get high with pentagrams drawn all over the walls if that's what you're thinking."

"Ugh, I-I didn't mean to offend ya, I swear!" Joey replied, seeming eager to correct himself.

I laughed. "None taken. I was just saying."

"You da only wiccan or is dat a common thing with Elektra and everybody to?"

"Just me and Terrance practice wicca. He's a whole lot better at it than me, but I think I know all the important stuff."

We took a left turn and the neon lights of some Asian food restaurant reflected on the shiny wet hood of the car.

"Whatta 'bout Elektra and Blaze and ya other friend?" Joey asked.

"Ya mean Raileth?"

"Yeh."

I bit my lip. I didn't really want to tell him _their_ truth. It's not my place. Once Elektra gets back from her vacation she should tell them all about Klaus and his "practices". Instead of coming completely clean, I summarized the truth. "They're different."

"Different how?"

"Joey..."

"Okay I'll stop."

I leaned back in my seat and started staring out the window at all of the small shops flash by, their lights the only visible or distinctive thing I could make out from them. There was a mist layering the road and the rain started back up and got heavier. There weren't a lot of numerous people out in this side of town, especially during this time of day. So far I've counted six prostitutes and three drug deals. Why are we going down this part of town? Because after that sniper incident the police blocked out that road and everything around it, and that was this road is the next closest way to get to my house.

I felt the car pull to a stop as the traffic light turned red. Out in the distance I could see something tall and dark standing by the corner of the sidewalk, a mere ten feet from me. At first, I thought he was Slender Man (and thank God it wasn't), but he had a face and was dressed less business casual. More Imma-kill-you-with-my-empty-liquor-bottle-and-rob-you-for-money-for-pot casual. And he was staring at me dead in the eye.

Immediately, I pressed the button that automatically locks all the doors and tensed up. Something felt wrong, but I wasn't having another vision. At least that means he's not with Klaus but I still felt antsy for some reason. Then they guy started walking towards the car.

"J-Joey...!" I called out.

Before he could answer, the crook smashed the window and grabbed hold of my hair. I started screaming and kicking futilely. Meanwhile Joey rushed out of the car and ran around to my side and started beating the living shit outta the bastard. He eventually let go of me and started hitting Joey. For a few seconds, I had to recollect myself before I could react. If I didn't do something, he might kill Joey.

The spells Terrance taught me started spinning through my head. _Hexxa, Zanna, Vooda, Seana, Talla, Mysta. Hexxa, Zanna, Vooda, Seana, Talla, Mysta._ The six spells that kill, each by their own means. Terrance told me to never use these unless it was absolutely nessisary. To save Joey from some psycho, yeah I think that counts. So I grabbed the pink highlighter I always kept in my purse in case of emergencies like these. I hastily drew a pentagram on the palm on my hand and exited the car, careful to keep the rain from touching the pink pentagram on my hand.

I saw the man pinning Joey on the ground lifting a dagger high above the younger man. He was about to kill Joey. I jumped on his back and pressed the palm of my hand on his forehead, the only place there was bare skin and screamed, "_HEXXA!"_

Instantly, the man glew in a muddy, dark, lavender and backed off of Joey. He turned towards me, furious, and was about to lunge his knife into me if the effect of my spell hadn't taken affect.

He clenched his chest and gurgled, "Wh-what did you do to me?!"

I didn't answer. Terrance taught me that it's best not to talk to somebody you've killed. Still, I haven't killed anybody until today. It was him and Elektra who've done this before, not me! I felt sick and unstable and the guy wasn't even dead yet. He clenched his chest even harder and contorted back around to Joey trying to beg even though through all the gurgling and foam made his pleas inaudible. His eyes finally rolled into the back of his head. And he collapsed, dead.

I mumbled another spell to erase all the camera footage from the ones on the street light and nearby stores, along with any memory from possible witnesses. Then I held out my hand and let the rain wash away the pink pentagram, though it could never wash away the memory of this. No spell is strong enough to heal emotional pain.

Joey was staring at me, frightened, but trying to hide it. "You killed him."

I looked back at him, longing for some ounce of understanding. I don't wanna be alone again. I want friends. I want to fall in love and turn old and grey with them. I want some sense of normality, and I only feel that when I'm with him. "I saved you."

* * *

And that's it. :P

This is not the last time someone will die in here. It actually gets REALLY brutal in Part Two. Infact, Chapter 31 is very very very freakin' graphic. It gets really bad, really fast.

Also if anyone got the reference in the title, you are awesome! Really, you are.

And if you don't understand some stuff about the spells, it'll be explained in the next chapter.

One last chapter before Elektra and Kaiba return, and a mere three chapters until the end of Part 1. Next chapter will be more touching and the one after that is build-up to chapter 30. Also, just so you get an idea of where I'm going with this, Part 1 is all build-up. That was the purpose of all thirty of these chapters. It's like the prologue for this story. Now you know. Later!


	28. The Casters: Thankful

Yo. This chapter is short because I wrote it via phone. I hate making you guys wait until Christmas for something of value, so I'm writing something short. I may elongate (pfffffft "elongate") the chapter later on. Take it or leave it.

* * *

Strike Down

The Casters: Thankful

* * *

Twyla Caster isn't your average human. She's a species all her own. No regular human can go through what's she's gone through and come out of it as good as she has. No regular human is quite as... _magical_ as she is. Twyla, my dearest friend Twyla, is a psycho. She's crazier than I am. Not that it's a bad thing. The best people in the world are a little nuts anyways.

* * *

Maggots. Maggots.

Maggotsmaggotsmaggotsmaggotsmaggots.

I kept thinking in my head: _Crawling in my skin. These wounds they will not heal. Fear is how I fall. Confusing what is real._

Maggots...

The room was spinning. No, the world was spinning. All around me, I felt like I was being suffocated by my own rabid imagination. And the maggots... Burrowing... I killed a man. I killed him. With _Hexxa_ I marked him an unclean and killed him with the heart-attack-spell. Why did I use the heart-attack-spell? Why not _Vooda_ the suicide-spell? Or _Zanna_ the choking-spell? _Seana_ the burning-spell? _Mysta_ the freezing-spell?_ Talla _the poisoning-spell? Six spells of the lethal Dark Arts. Six spells of suffering death. And I killed him with one.

I made him die.

I hope that fucker suffered until his last breath.

The maggots started to make my head itch so I scratched my scalp, making some if the chubby worms fall to the ground. It only made my head itch more, so I stopped scratching for a moment. I hate the fucking maggots.

Terrance made the maggots go away last time. He said that it's all in my head. And when I believed him, the maggots weren't there anymore. I haven't seen the worms in years until last night after I killed the mugger and Joey dropped me off.

...

...Joey...

... Must hate me. I'm such a freak. I killed a man. I use black magic. I have fucking maggots burrowing out of my skin. I'm a freak. I'M a freak. I'M A freak. I'M A FREAK. I'M A FREAK! FREAKFREAKFREAKFREAK!

_Twyla's a fre-eak._

_Twyla's a fre-eak_

Those damn bullies were right. Who was I kidding? I'm a nut case. I'm the embodiment of schitzofrenia. Terrance says that that's not what I have. He doesn't know, no one does. Twyla Caster is just crazy insane. With maggots eating her from the inside-out.

I had a knife ready. It was a kitchen knife- one of those you use to carve ham. Now I'm gonna use it to carve my blood veins out. That's where the maggots live. If I dig out all of the parasites, then all of my suffering. All my problems will "_poof_" be gone as if it was magic.

Joey hates me. He was quiet when he dropped me off, thinking "_A psycho... Dis girl is a psycho. She looks like-a regala girl, but she'd look bettah in a damn straightjacket."_ If I knew enough magic, I could actually read his mind, but I don't need to be a magician to understand what he was thinking. I thought... I thought things would go right this time. As soon as I got out of the car, I saw a maggot crawl out of my fingernail.

With this knife, I get rid if those damn _maggots._ As I pushed the blade against my wrist, I heard my phone vibrate on the table near my bed. I got up, knife in hand, and walked over to my phone.

As it would turn out, I got a text message...

... From Joey.

The knife fell to the ground.

Joey: Hey

Joey: Just wanted u 2 kno that I aint telling any1 about what "happened".

Joey: and That I stil dont care that u hav these powers. I think theyre awesome :3 U R awesome u kno that?

Joey: If u evur need 2 talk 2 any1 u can talk 2 me. I aint a blabba mouth like every1 thinks i am. I'll even make a extra spesial promiss 2 u. Cuz ur my extra spesial friend. Wat evur happens btween u and me is sealed.

Joey: also i was wondering if ur ok. If u r, then would u mind meeting sumwhere 2day? Maybe...?

That's when the texts ended. My eyes were teary, but I wasn't crying. I was wrong. I was so much very wrong.

Me: U wanna come over to my house 4 Thanksgiving?

The seconds that passed felt like hours.

Joey: Sure :)

As I put my phone back down before I get ready, I noticed that the maggots were gone.

* * *

Well, it's been forever, hasn't it? Next chapter will hopefully be up around Christmas when I will hopefully get a new computer. Sorry for the shortness, but at least it's something.

Also, Twyla has some sorta mental disorder. I don't know which one it is, but I think it's a mix between schitzofrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. Basically, she starts to hallucinate whenever she's greatly stressed and depressed.

Also thanks to everyone who favorites/ followed me in my absence. ^_^ you guys rock!


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